TH 

.S a 









































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Class_ IMAaI 

Book_ !l__ 


✓ n 
- 


Copyright N° 


COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 






















THE MANUAL 

OF 

Modern Plumbing 


BY 

S. B. STERBROGK 

IN 



COPYRIGHTED 1907 

BY 

THE ACME PUBLISHER 
CHICAGO, ILL. 


+^6/2*3 

. Ss 


CONGRESS] 

i 

i wl* Uooles Received g 

OCT 6 i30r 

, Convriarht Entry 

j OcA / 7, (q o 7 

, Ct-ASi; 4 XXC., No, 

/qc 001+ 

[ COPY B. 8 



\ 







CONTENTS 


PAGE. 


PREFACE 




CHAPTER I.—ROOF COVERING . 7 

CHAPTER II.—ROOF WORK, GUTTERS, ETC. 15 

CHAPTER III.—COVERING FLATS, PLATFORMS, ETC. 21 


CHAPTER 

CHAPTER 

CHAPTER 

CHAPTER 

CHAPTER 

CHAPTER 

CHAPTER 

CHAPTER 


IV. —DORMERS, GUTTERS, RIDGES, ETC. 24 

V. —RIDGES, FINIALS, ETC. 3S 

VI. —GUTTERS AND PIPES. 47 

VII. —THE SUPPLY AND STORAGE OF WATER_ 56 

VIII. —STORAGE OF FLUSHING AND DRINKING 

WATER, DELIVERY AND CONTROL. 72 

IX. —ELEMENTARY SANITATION . 79 

X. —SOIL PIPES, CLOSETS, AND TRAPS. 86 

XI. —LEAD LINING FOR SINK. 92 
















PREFACE. 


The art of plumbing in its early state was handed 
down to us by the Romans. From it comes the name 
derived from the Latin word “plumbum,” meaning lead. 
The roofs at that time were to a great extent covered 
with lead and it was with this, chiefly, that the work 
had to do. Later on guttering became an elaboration of 
the art, then the intricate system of pipes and faucets 
fashioned from various metals, in fact, the entire system 
of modern sanitation became logical additions to this art. 

As we view the vast field of usefulness that is cov¬ 
ered by the province of the plumber, we are impressed 
with the fact that it has kept step with the progress of 
the ages. In preparing this work the object has been 
to give the information in a comprehensive form in as 
wide a range as possible, so as to be of daily service to 
the beginner, the graduate, and, in fact, anyone having 
an active interest in the subject. 




MANUAL OF 


MODERN PLUMBING. 


CHAPTER I. 

ROOF COVERING. 

The craft of the plumber takes its name from the 
Latin word for lead (plumbum), and during the Middle 
Ages and later his work was pretty much confined to 
the manipulation of that metal for sundry architectural 
purposes. The most important of these was the cover¬ 
ing of the roofs of cathedrals, churches, feudal castles, 
and baronial halls with the metal named; also the mak¬ 
ing of cisterns of stout lead, either cast or soldered up. 
But the modern “sanitary engineer” did not as yet exist; 
w.cs. had not been invented, and in place of a main 
drainage or other drainage system the “night-man’s” 
cart was the only means of purification. 

Taking, then, the plumber’s typical avocation in this 
volume, “Sanitary Engineering” will be reserved for 
another item of this series. 

The art of adapting lead and zinc to purposes con¬ 
nected with public edifices and private dwellings, which 
comes under the general designation of plumbing, is, from 
the number of processes involved and the technical skill 
required, fully entitled to be considered a distinct handi¬ 
craft. In small towns it is frequently associated with the 
trades of house-painting and glazing, and even in London 
and other great centers of employment a “three-branch 
hand,” or one capable of working at each of the three 



3 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


businesses, is frequently in request. In this small and 
unpretentious work, however, we propose to offer a few 
concise and practical details of the art of plumbing con¬ 
sidered independently, in the hope that while we may 
assist the young man desirous of excelling in his trade, 
we may also occasionally afford some interest to those of 
greater experience. 

Before proceeding to the practice of plumbing, a few 
remarks on its history may not be unwelcome. The 
manipulation of lead for architectural purposes is a proc¬ 
ess of respectable antiquity. The early eastern nations, 
from the nature of their climate, had no need of metallic 
adjuncts of the kind to their temples, palaces or houses. 
If metals were so used, they were mediums of ornament. 
The Romans were, perhaps, the first plumbers, and their 
name for lead (Latin, plumbum) gives a general title to 
the trade, which has been adopted, with trifling modifica¬ 
tions, in most European languages. But even the Romans 
made little use of plumbing in Italy. The construction of 
their roofs did not require it in any great measure, and 
it was not until subsequent to Caesar's conquest of the 
Celtic tribes of Western Europe that we meet with any 
extensive use of lead on buildings. The Romanized 
Gauls of France first employed it largely, and it is said 
that portions of the leaden sheets used on the ridges and 
gutters of their dwellings have been frequently found in 
the ruins of their towns. Under the early Merovingian 
kings of France lead was freely employed as a roof cov¬ 
ering. It is traditionally said that Saint Eloi caused 
the Church of Saint Paul des Champs to be covered 
with artistically-wrought plates of lead. 

Eginhard, the secretary of the great Emperor Charle¬ 
magne, writes, in one of his letters, that he was occupied 
in similarly covering the basilica of the martyrs, SS. 
Marcellin and Peter. “A purchase of lead,” he says, 
“amounting to a sum of fifty pounds, was then agreed 
upon between us. Though the works of the edifice are 
not yet so far advanced that I need provide for its 
covering; yet, nevertheless, so uncertain is the duration 
of our life, that it is ever needful to hasten the end of 


9 


Roof Covering. 

the work, with the aid of God, that we have under¬ 
taken. Frodoard, in his history of the Church of 
Rheims, says that Hincmar, the archbishop, covered the 
roof of the church Notre Dame with lead; and at the 
close of the twelfth century, Maurice De Sully, Arch¬ 
bishop of Paris, left by will £5,000 to cover with lead 
the choir of the present cathedral of the same name. 



Numerous contemporaneous instances occur in our own 
and other western nations. According to the Venerable 
Bede (lib. iii. cap. 25), lead was used for covering the 
roof of the church at Lindisfarne as early as A. D. 652; 
and the practice rapidly became general in England. 
Many of these examples of early plumbing are unsur¬ 
passed by any later works, this being particularly shown 
in precautions to guard against the natural tendency of 
lead to droop or sink when used for partially supported 
ornamental work, and also in the regard to allowing the 
















































10 Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

metal freedom for the dilatation under strong sunlight, 
and retraction during frost, which characterizes it in a 
marked degree. The lead employed during the Middle 
Ages was less pure than that of our own day, containing 
traces of silver and arsenic, and hence did not oxydize 



or decay so readily. Fig. i shows part of a specimen of 
ancient work. Stout leaden plates were used, the up¬ 
turned adjacent edges of which were bent over each 
other in the same manner as at present, as shown at 
Fig. 2, not, however, so tightly as to hinder the expan¬ 
sion or shrinkage of the lead. The lower edge of each 
plate is supported by two catches, which are nailed at 
one end of the wooden covering of the roof. At each 
joint the lead is double. The church of Our Lady at 


no. 6 



Chalons-sur-Marne, of the thirteenth century, is covered 
in this manner. Many of the ancient forms and arrange¬ 
ment of leaden gutters are worthy of notice, did our 
space permit. One example, however, of which Fig. 3 
is a section, and Fig. 4 a front view, must serve. Here 
A A is the leaden gutter, provided at intervals with 
shanks, B, which are cramped into holes made for their 





































Roof Covering. 


11 


reception in the cornice, C, the wall-plate of the roof 
truss, D, resting over it. The front, E, is formed into 
an ornamental design, as shown at Fig. 4, the entire 
arrangement, as will be readily seen, making allowance 
for the changes to which the metal is subject. 

The business of the plumber at the present day com¬ 
prehends the covering of roofs and flats with lead, the 
laying of gutters, and covering hip-ridges and valleys 
with the same material; the construction and fixing of 



cisterns of various kinds with their pipes and cocks, fix¬ 
ing of water-closets and their fittings, and the putting 
up of iron and zinc eave-gutters. 

Of these branches we will first deal with the applica¬ 
tion of lead to roofs. Any remarks about tools will come 










12 Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

in incidentally when their employment is spoken of, and 
of the material little requires to be said. 

At a time not very remote cast sheet lead only was 
used, and the plumber procured his ingots or pigs of 
lead and poured the molten metal on a flat surface, 
covered thinly with damp, coarse sand, previously lev¬ 
eled by a metal strike or rule, which instrument was 
also drawn across the surface of the lead before it 
cooled, sweeping off the superfluous metal, and deter¬ 
mining the thickness of the sheet. This is now superseded 
for all ordinary work by the lead being shaped by the 
laminating cylinders of the rolling-mill, and known as 
“milled lead.” This is uusually supplied to the plumber in 
rolls of about 7 ft. in width, and from 25 ft. to 33 ft. long. 
Cast lead is made in sheets, about 6ft. 6in. wide and 18ft. 
long. Either length or breadth, however, may vary, ac¬ 
cording to the scum cut off after casting, to the extent of 
6 in. less in width and 12 in. or more in length. Lead is 
technically divided into lead of 5 lb., 6 lb., 6 l / 2 lb., up to 
12 lb. per superficial foot, and it is sufficient for our pres¬ 
ent purpose to remark that 6 lb. lead is the least weight 
adapted to gutters, flats, etc., but 7 lb. is much preferable. 

It is evident that in the use of lead to cover large 
superficies or long gutters frequent necessity for joining 
it must occur. This may be effected in various ways. At 
Fig. 5 is shown the manner of joining two contiguous flat 
surfaces by a seam, very similar to the “lap joint” of the 
sheet-metal worker. An edge of each sheet of lead is 
bent up at a right angle, one being higher than the other, 
as A (Fig. 5). This more elevated side is then bent over 
horizontally (Fig. 5, B) ; then downwards (C) ; and 
finally rolled over, as at D in the same figure. The other 
plan of uniting the edges is by soldering, of which two 
kinds are employed bv the plumber, one being technically 
termed “wiped,” and the other ‘ striped.” The plumber 
has recourse for different operations to three forms of 
soldering tool; one (Fig. 6, A) being the ordinary copper 
“bolt” or “bit,” used in other trades also, and formed of a 
piece of copper which may vary from 3 oz. to as many 
pounds, riveted in an iron shank ; another (Fig. 6, B) is 


13 


Roof Covering. 

the crooked, bulbons-ended “soldering-iron” peculiar to 
the plumber; and the third (Fig. 6, C) is the shape of 
copper “bolt/ adapted to the plumber’s requirements, and 
known as the “hatchet bolt,” from its shape. With the 
copper “bolts” cold solder is used, but with the “iron” 
molten solder is employed. The first, called “strap” or 
“strip” solder, from the shape which is given to it by the 
gridiron-formed apparatus in which it is cast, is made by 
melting block tin and lead together in proportions varying 
from i lb. tin and 1^2 lb. lead to equal weights of each 
metal, according to the formula of different people. 

It is said that the lead used to line tea-chests would 
make excellent solder of this kind, being composed of 
equal parts of tin and lead, but we have never tried it 
ourselves. For solder to be used in a molten state, 
“working solder,” as it is frequently termed, the propor¬ 
tions of the respective components may be 2 lb. pure lead 



to 1 lb. block tin. Either solder can be bought ready¬ 
made, the “working,” in ingots of triangular section, the 
“strap” in long strips of different sizes, down to mere 
threads of metal, and the finest in cakes, about 4 in. by 
6 in., and from l /^ in. to ]/ 2 in. thick. In the preparation 
of all solders, but especially of that to be used in a molten 
state, the utmost precaution must be taken that no frag¬ 
ments of zinc get into the melting pot or ladle. The least 
piece of zinc may render the solder useless, in precisely 

























14 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


the same manner that the smallest portion of the same 
metal would ruin the stereotyper’s pot of type metal. 

Having briefly described the nature of some of the first 
materials with which we shall have to deal, we will now 
proceed with the application of lead to roofs. In an 
ordinary gable roof, bounded in front and real by a stone 
cornice, the gutters and “flashings" are the items with 
which the plumber has to deal. Here the channel or val¬ 
ley of the gutter is formed in the cornice from end to 
end, and into this and around it the lead is fixed. The 
mason attends to giving this a proper “current" or de¬ 
cline from one end to the other where the water escapes, 
say making the depth about i in. at the upper end, and 
falling to 3 in. or more at the exit, and a breadth accord¬ 
ing to the superfices of the roof to be drained. The first 
step is now to ascend to the roof and measure for the 
lead required, as shown in Fig. 8. 


» I 


CHAPTER II. 

ROOF WORK, GUTTERS, ETC. 

We have given in our last chapter (Fig. 7) a sectional 
sketch of a stone gutter valley, with the accompanying 
portion of the timbering of the roof and the stone par¬ 
apet. The lead which the plumber has to use thereon 
requires to be not only sufficiently wide to cover the top 
of the cornice and the channel formed therein, but it 
is also necessary that it should be laid so that it will 



extend a certain distance, say, 6 in. or 7 in. up the 
roof, in order to protect the timber more effectually from 
the recoil of heavy rains. In the kind of parapet there 
shown the metal is carried across the cornice, and laps 
over the front about 1 in. Thus, the measurements 
required will be shown as at Fig. 8, and these added 
together will give the breadth of the lead to be used. 
These pieces are now measured off the roll, by aid of 
the rule and chalk line, each being 2 ft. wide, and of 
lengths according to the distance to be covered and the 
most advantageous cutting up of the material, say, from 
12 ft. to 15 ft. The plumber’s rule usually used for 











16 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


measurements is of different construction to that em¬ 
ployed by the carpenter, being divided into three equal 
parts of 8 in. each. Two of the folds are of boxwood, 
and divided into inches and twelfth parts of an inch. 
The third leg is formed of a piece of slowly-tempered 
steel. This latter leg is attached to one of the boxwood 
legs by a small pivot, and when not in use falls into a 
recess formed to receive it in the wooden leg. This steel 
leg is useful for measuring places where the wooden ones 
could not easily be applied. 

The strips of lead, after being weighed, are now con¬ 
veyed to the roof, unrolled, and dressed or rendered flat 
by being beaten with the “dresser," which is made of 
beech about 18 in. long and 2^2 in. wide, flat on the 
under side and rounded on the upper (A, Fig. 1). B 
shows the shove-hook, used in reducing pipes, edges of 
sheets, etc. The distance of the center of the gutter val¬ 
ley from the external edge of the parapet is then meas¬ 
ured, and the lead bent accordingly (Fig. 2) along the 
entire length of each piece at that distance from one 
edge. When the lead is now placed in position, the bend 
thus formed corresponds with the middle of the gutter 
channel. One side is now bent over to rest on the roof, 
and the other on and over the parapet, both being well 
dressed to their places by aid of the dresser. It must be 
borne in mind that the lead will require to be a little 
wider at the end where the water escapes, to allow for 
the increased depth of the gutter. 

Although in our climate, where the expansion and 
contraction of lead used externally is very considerable, 
soldering is the least preferable method of joining, still 
in a gutter formed in stone, like this one, it is necessary 
to have recourse to it. We will suppose, therefore, that 
the pieces of lead, dressed to their place as described, 
are to be so joined. The plumber now requires a small 
portable stove, or chaffering-pan, furnished with a flat 
sheet-iron trav, containing water, in which it is placed. 
This latter precaution is a very necessary one, as has 
been frequently proved by the numerous accidents, some 
involving the loss of edifices of historic celebritv, which 


17 


Roof Work, Gutters , Etc. 


have occurred in consequence of an unobserved cinder 
from the plumber’s stove escaping upon the woodwork 
of a roof. The destruction of the first Alexandra Pal¬ 
ace at Muswell Hill is a case in point. A large iron 
ladle or pot, with lugs or ears (Fig. 3), the soldering- 
iron already described, a small ladle, and the “shave- 
hook, ’ are the other adjuncts for the job; also some 
pieces of fustian, moleskin, or even old bed-tick or stout 




linen, etc., folded into several thicknesses and of differ¬ 
ent sizes, and known as “soldering-cloths.” These 
should be placed in a pipkin, with a bit of Russian tallow 
on it, and set on the hob, so as to get permeated by the 
grease, and when cold, before use, be again well greased 
on one side. Each end of the lengths of lead is now well 
cleaned for 4 in. or 5 in. up with some chalk and a piece 
of stout brown paper, the portion of the metal thus 
cleaned being afterwards smeared over with “soil” or 
“tarnish” or “smudge,” as it is variously termed, which 









18 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


is a mixture of thin glue, lampblack, and stale small 
beer, with a little powdered chalk, boiled together. When 
the “soil” is dry it is removed for about i in. from each 
end of the pieces of lead, by means of the sharp edge of 
the “shave-hook” (B, Fig. i), the bright surface thus 
left being at once coated with a little Russian tallow, or 
even that of a common candle, as freedom from metallic 




oxidization, however slight, is necessary to ensure per¬ 
fect attachment by soldering in cases where, as in this 
instance, no aqueous flux is employed. The working 
solder, having been in the meantime raised to rather 
beyond its melting point, is now poured in a plentiful 
, 3^ ea ^)f the l^^dle, over the adjacent edges 






















Roof Work , Gutters, Etc . 


19 


of the pieces of lead, the object of being so profuse in 
the quantity of solder poured over being to raise the 
temperature of these edges of the metal which are to 
form the joint. The soldering-cloths are applied, with 
their greasy side next to the molten metal, to retain it 
in the place of the joint until partially set, to manipulate 
it to smoothness, and to assist in wiping off the super¬ 
fluous metal. It is, perhaps, well to impress upon the 
tyro the need of taking due care of his fingers during 
the operation of making joints. The bulbous soldering- 
iron, which has been heated to redness in the fire, but 
which does not require to be ‘‘tinned,” as is the white¬ 
smith's copper-bolt, is employed in the operation of sol¬ 
dering the joints, to assist in heating the lead, and in 
moulding the solder. The stone bottom of the gutter 
valley should be chiseled away in a small degree by the 
mason at each place where the soldered joints occur, in 
order that they shall lie flat and “flush” with the other 
parts of the leaden lining. 

The gutter now completed being that of the front part 
of the building, the one at the rear of the house has to be 
similarly dealt with. The cornice here, however, is 
usually of less breadth (Fig. 4), and, of course, the lead 
provided need not be so wide. In gable houses, such as 
that on which we have supposed our first operation to 
take place, this rear gutter will be less in length than 
the front one, in consequence of the masonry of the 
“skew-corbel” (Fig. 5) descending at each end of the 
gutter in place of the gable-coping finishing flush with 
the brickwork, as it usually does in the front of the 
house. On the other hand, the lead will require a “turn¬ 
up” of 5 in. or 6 in. at each end of the back gutter against 
the “skew-corbel." 

Both gutters being completed, the small “doubling" 
fillet for the slaters has to be fixed along the whole 
length above the gutter that the slates will extend. This 
is made of splines of wood, of any convenient length, 
and in section, as shown at A (Fig. 4), the top of the 
lead, being bent back over it, as in the figure. 

Where a chimney or other break in the continuity of 


20 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


the slating occurs, pieces of lead are placed beside it 
from the ridge of the roof till they connect with the gut¬ 
ter, and at a right, or other angle, with the latter. These 
are termed “flashings,” or, as it is frequently, but er¬ 
roneously spelled “flushings.” The word is, however, 
undoubtedly derived, as are most of our other terms 
connected with building, from the old Norman French ; 
and the French “flaque," a “splash of rain," gives un¬ 
questionably its origin, and should determine its spelling. 


CHAPTER III. 


COVERING FLATS, PLATFORMS, ETC. 

From the earliest period lead has been a favorite— 
indeed, the only—material for covering flat-roofing sur¬ 
faces. But, used in this manner, the metal has one nota¬ 
ble disadvantage to counterbalance its many good quali¬ 
ties—viz., that it is ductile, and much affected by changes 
of temperature. 

The mediaeval plumbers were well aware of these 
characteristics. They knew that a sheet of lead would 
expand with a high temperature and contract with a low 
one, and they surmounted this difficulty with a clever 
contrivance, which has descended to our own day. This 
consists in leaving the edges of the sheets of lead used 
unsecured by nails or screws, and thus, with freedom for 
expansion and contraction, the edges of the sheet being 
dressed over wood battens termed “rolls/’ 

Platforms or flats to be covered with lead must, of 
course, be first measured, to ascertain the quantity of 
metal required, making due allowance at each side for 
the upstand, which has to be dressed up to and over the 
deal battens which form the foundation of the lead rolls, 
and which are screwed down to the boarding by the 
carpenter. As a consequence of turning these extremi¬ 
ties of the leaden sheets over the rolls, the former are 
secured in their places without any nails, screws, or 
fastenings being employed, and the metal is left suffi¬ 
ciently free for its inevitable expansion and contraction. 

At the outset, the number of rolls to be adopted must 
be decided upon, the distance between which must never 
exceed 3 ft., but is usually much less. Sufficient allow¬ 
ance must be made in each piece for the rolls, which 
some plumbers prefer to make larger than do others, 


22 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


and the size of which may differ according to the situa¬ 
tion. Say the wood is 2 in. by 2 in., about 8 in. will 
require to be allowed; or if the rolls are to be formed 
without the wooden battens (which answer equally well 
when they are not to be walked over), from 6 in. to 
7 in. may be allowed, according to the size of rolls pre- 
fered. 

Lead of 8 lb. to the foot is a good weight for flats, 
although 7 lb. lead is often used. Suppose the top of a 
ground-floor shop built forward over a small front gar¬ 
den forms the flat to be covered, and is 18 ft. wide by 
16 ft. deep. If the rolls are made at 2 ft. asunder, the 
18 ft. will require tw r o eights, and seven pieces of lead 
will be needed, each 2 ft. 8 in. wide and 16 ft. 6 in. long, 
two pieces of the same length but 2 in. narrower, the 
addition in length being for the upstand against the wall 



of the first floor at one end, and 2 in. at the other turned 
over the gutter behind the shop architrave. The “bat¬ 
tens/’ which are slips of pine of from 2 x / 2 in. by \ l / 2 in. 
to 3 in. by 2 in., with their two upper edges rounded off, 
are first fastened down to the boarding. The edges of 
each piece of lead can then “set up,” and the first piece 
is laid in its place, beginning from the side which is least 
likely to be exposed to the weather. This piece will need 
an upstand of 3 in. against the boundary wall (if one). 
The upstand of the other edge (say about 2V2 in.) is 
then dressed well up. The next piece of lead must be 
set up at about 5 in. on one edge and 2 ]/ 2 in. on the 
other, and laid on the flat with the higher upstand 
against the latter, already partially covered, and this 
upstand (as well as the one on the other edge) is dressed 
to the other. Fig. 1 A, is a sketch of the early part of 




Covering Flats, Platforms, Etc. 


23 


the operation, while B shows a couple of rolls in situ, 
and C an enlarged section of the batten and lead. 

A, Fig. i, of last chapter, shows a plumber’s “dresser.” 
At the boundary edges of the platform the lead may be 
variously secured, either by a roll or as at A and B 

(Fig. 5 )- 

In cases where there is little likelihood that the plat¬ 
form to be covered will be walked over, the wooden bat¬ 
tens may be dispensed with, and the rolls formed by 
means of the lead alone. In this instance, after the flash¬ 
ings and edges are dealt with as previously described, 
the positions which the rolls are intended to occupy are 
marked off on the boarding, observing the precaution 
that the side of the rolls towards which the lead is to 
be turned over should, as far as possible, be the least 
exposed direction. In cutting out the lead an allowance 
must, of course, be made for the roll. This may be 3 in. 
and 4 in., or rather less. The lead being dressed out on 
the platform, each piece has one edge set up 4 in., and 
the other edge 3 in., the greater upstand of one piece 
going next to the lesser upstand of the next, the edges 
being first planed up. The inch excess in the height of 
one edge is then turned down, overlapping the other, as 
at A (Fig. 1), and dressed home. The doubled edges 
are then turned down, as shown in section at B in the 
same figure, and the roll completed, taking care that 
although light it is even and undented, and straight and 
true on the flat. 


CHAPTER IV. 


DORMERS, GUTTERS, RIDGES, ETC. 

In connection with this branch of our subject, we may 
say a few words on the flashings required for roof win¬ 
dows and louvres. A dormer or attic bedroom window 
projecting from the sloping side of a roof (Fig. 3) has 



to be provided with a flashing down each side, as shown 
in the sketch. The lead may be cut about a foot wide 
for the upper part of the window from A to B, of which 
width 7 in. goes on the roof, and 5 in. on the window 
roof. The flashings for the side, from B to C, can be 
rather narrower, 7 in. going on the boarding of roof, 
and an upstand of 3 in. against the side of window. 
This side may be variouslv covered. When large it is 













25 


Dormers, Gutters, Ridges, Etc. 


not unfrequently slated, and the slates, of course, come 
down to and overlap the upstand of the flashing. Some¬ 
times it is covered with a triangle of zinc, or, more 
rarely, of lead, which also comes down over the flash¬ 
ing. Where the bottom of the window comes down to 
the cornice, as in Fig. i, no flashings are required be¬ 
neath; but where the window is situated higher in the' 
roof they are frequently employed. Louvres in roofs 
of schoolrooms, factories, or public buildings (Fig. 4) 
may be dealt with in a similar manner to dormer win¬ 
dows. If the Venetian shutter bars, or other ornamental 
woodwork which constitutes the louvre, does not come 
out nearly flush with its gable, the lower ends of the 
flashings had better be carried a little around the inside, 



as shown at A, or may even extend across as per dotted 
line. It is usual also to extend them outwardly, as at 
B, on roofs of ecclesiastical edifices, the slater accom¬ 
modating his work thereto. The flashings should be fit¬ 
ted with the doubling fillet as in those for chimneys, etc. 

We have now touched upon about all the plumber’s 
work required for a gable roof provided with a stone 
cornice, and having one chimney-stack and perhaps dor¬ 
mer windows. Skylights and hatches, or loops, not 
being essential to a roof, we reserve for the present. 
There are, however, sundry forms of lead-lined gutter 
beside the simple channel in a stone cornice. Take, for 
instance, a house provided with a curb roof and a parapet 
of greater or less height. Here the plumber has to lav 
the gutter on the boarding fixed by the carpenter on 
the bottoms of the rafters, as in Fig. 1, where A is a 






26 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


section of the parapet or blocking course, B a portion 
of the roof truss, and C D the leaden gutter which rests 
upon the boarding of the bridging piece, E. Here the 
parapet is so low that the lead is turned over in front at 
D. The lead should not be less than 7 in. up the slope 
of the roof. 

Each of the gutters, if it terminates at a wall, should 
have an upstand of the same height as the parapet. In 
this the lead should be bent up at the end to a right 



1 

1 1 1 

1 

J 

1 

1 1 1 

1 

1 l 


r, G J. 


angle, and then each corner be pinched together closely. 
This pinched-up part is then doubled back over the end 
of the gutter in the manner shown in Fig. 2, which 
shows the preliminary step of the operation, and BCD 
its completion. Various local technical terms are applied 
to this operation in different parts of the kingdom—as 
“dog’s-earing,” in England, “pig’s lugging" in North 
Britain, etc. The lead may be dressed down to its place 






































































Dormers, Gutters, Ridges, Etc. 27 

without dogVearing, but requires more time and trouble. 

It is understood that the carpenter must make a sim¬ 
ilar provision for the proper fall of the water in fixing 
his gutter-boards to the bridging-pieces that the mason 
does in the formation of the valley in stone. Opinions 
vary as to what this should be, and indeed circumstances 
may materially modify it, but we may take it, that for 
a gutter of no great length a ^4 m - fall in the foot will 



1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 1 

1 





^ I r 

* 


r t a .4 


be ample. When the length of the gutter is considerable 
“drips” are resorted to, of which we will speak presently. 
The means of exit for the water are various, but in many 
cases the parapet, if high, is perforated to form an over¬ 
flow-pipe. In the event of the parapet being more lofty 
than that which we have instanced, the lead of the gutter 
should have a sufficient upstand, and flashings or aprons 
of thinner lead be fixed into the chasing in the masonry 
or the joints of the brickwork. Figs. 3 and 4 show dor¬ 
mer windows in the roof with their flashings. 



































































28 Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

At Fig. 9 is shown the plan of half a plain slated roof, 
having box gutters lined with lead, lead hips, and ridges. 
In the well are four valley gutters, with land gutters at 
the bottom. Manholes and skylights are omitted for the 
sake of clearness. The method of laying a length of gut¬ 
ter has been already explained; the same directions ap¬ 
ply to the laying of each of the lengths shown in this 



Ku. 


figure, except where the rolls occur. In working up the 
lead for the rolls one length is bossed up high enough 
to clip three parts of the roll, this being, of course, the 
underneath, the overcloak being allowed to cover the 
roll and lay down on the other side i in. In working 
up the lead a hollow the size of the roll is bossed up 
from the bottom of the gutter, and not worked up 
straight, as is usual in the case of the end of the gutter 
butting against a wall, for if the edges are worked up 
this way they are almost certain to give way when work¬ 
ing back over the roll. Besides this, it entails more than 
twice the amount of labor, and when done is not near so 











Dormers, Gutters, Ridges, Etc'. 


29 


good a job. The four hips from the gutters to the ridge 
may be in two or three pieces, according to length. It 
is not usual on roofs of this kind to use any other stays 
or fixings than that afforded by the straps and nails at 
the top. The straps on the plan of roof are omitted, but 
one is clearly shown in Fig. io, where the strap is shown 
passed under the ridge roll, turned over, and clipping 
the lay down on each side. Some do not like these 
double straps, preferring to have them single, so that 
they can be fixed alternately one on each side of the roll, 
and they must in this case be nailed to the ridge piece. 



The double clip does not recpiire nailing, and when kept 
close enough there is no fear of the lead bagging down 
between them. Lead straps are sometimes used, but 
sheet copper is far better. The covering of the rolls, 
whether hips or ridges, requires to be well done and well 
secured; but unless the wood rolls are properly fixed a 
good job cannot be made. In Fig. io, which is a sec¬ 
tion through the ridge roll, will be seen the best method 
of securing the roll by means of a ridge spike. This 
spike is made to drive into the ridge piece, say, 4 in., a 
shoulder being welded on the spike to prevent it being 
driven further and as a bearing. A second shoulder is 
also welded on the spike, and the distance between these 






















30 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


two shoulders depends upon the thickness of the slates or 
tiles, and whether the ridge piece is fixed to stand above 
the back of the spars. The ridge piece is figured to stand up 
the thickness of the slates, for in all cases there is an 
extra course of slates at the ridge as well as at the eaves. 

From this it will be seen that the second shoulder 
should stand about Y\ in. above the top of the slates, 
and the roll is secured by driving it on the top of the 
spike, and the end of the spike is either clinched or an 
iron washer placed over it and riveted. When rolls are 
riveted in this way the lead can be bent around the roll 
so as to grip it firmly, and the roll stands up and looks 
far better than when spike-nailed to the ridge piece. It 
is quite common to see rolls packed up at intervals on 
wood blocks, which prevent the lead from closing in and 



gripping the roll, and when the plumber sets in the lead 
each one of the blocks shows up pretty prominently. The 
rolls are sometimes spiked on the ridge piece, and the 
outer edges of the ridge piece is cut away to the pitch 
of the roof. This, however, makes a poor job. There is 
nothing like a good ridge spike to hold up the roll clear 
of the slates. We have not the same difficulty with the 
hips, for in this case the joiner cannot use such chunks 
of timber as he can in the ridge. The hip roll will gen¬ 
erally stand up sufficiently clear without the spike, but if 
not , the double-shouldered spike is just as applicable to 
the hips as to the ridges. 

A section through a valley gutter is shown at Fig. n, 










Dormers, Gutters, Ridges, Etc. 


31 


the boards carrying the lead being laid on the back of 
the spars. A wood rib is also shown nailed on the out¬ 
side edge, but when the boards are as thick as the slate 
laths the rib is unnecessary. The land gutter, B, at the 
bottom of the well in the roof is shown at Fig. 12. Stout 
gutter boards are generally used for this gutter; these 
do away with the use of easepolling. The sides of the 
gutter are usually carried well up the sides of the roof, 
and the gutter is often made into a kind of large cess¬ 
pool, the outlet being wiped into the bottom. In this 
case the outlet is shown at one end, so that it may be 
carried in a straight line between the slates, delivering 



the cesspool. It is easy to work up the angles of this 
gutter, seeing that they are rarely at angles above forty- 
five degrees. The outlet is often carried inside the roof 
by a wood lead-lined trough, but it is best to run an ordi¬ 
nary lead pipe with brass-cleaning eyes at every 6 ft. 
length. The pipe should be laid in a trough, and cov¬ 
ered with sawdust to prevent it being frozen up solid. 
The outlet in gutter should be covered with a lead or 
copper-wire grating, and the whole of the gutter should 













































































32 




Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


be covered with a snow board, as these wells are liable 
to become completely filled up by the drifting snow, and 
when a thaw comes on rapidly, and the gutter is not kept 
clear, leakages are almost certain. Sno'w boards are of 
two kinds, one being a plain board, with \]/2 in. holes 
bored about 6 in. or 8 in. apart from each other, and the 
bearers under the board beveled to fit it on the slates, the 
other being constructed of wood ribs 2 in. wide and i in. 
thick, nailed on the bearers and uprights, standing on the 
gutter bottom, the ribs being kept about ^4 in apart. 




This form of snow board is preferable, for the plain 
board often splits, and the bearers soon rot and come 
loose, but in regard to keeping the gutter free from 
snow, both answer their purpose well. Many master 
plumbers have standing orders to send men to clear the 
snow from these wells whenever the fall has been at all 
heavy. The whole of the gutters round a house such 
as this should be provided with snow boards, for, in addi¬ 
tion to keeping the gutters clear from snow, they keep 





33 


Dormers, Gutters, Ridges, Etc. 

the sun from the bottom of the gutter, and thus prevent 
the lead from cracking, saving expense in repairs. 

Fig. 13 is a section of lead gutter in parapet. Flash¬ 
ings are pieces of lead (or zinc) placed at the re-enter¬ 
ing angles in roof construction to prevent rain water 



Fig. 12. 



from penetrating at such points of junction. 

When the edges of slates abut upon masonry or brick¬ 
work, either at the end or sides of a roof, or when a 
chimney-stack, dormer window, or louvre ventilator rises 
through or springs from the slating, it becomes neces¬ 
sary to adopt precautions to make the roof water-tight 
at such points. There are various methods of effecting 
this object; but with only two of these—viz., the appli- 



























34 Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

cation of lead or zinc—is the plumber concerned. The 
slips of either metal are called, as already noticed, “flash¬ 
ings,” and their form and dimensions, and the modes of 
fixing them, vary considerably, according to the nature 
of the job in hand. 

As either masonry, brickwork, or wood (as a boarded 
side of a dormer window) are the usual materials on 
which the roofing slates abut, we will imagine, in the 
first place, that we are dealing with a roof having a 
gable-end and chimney-stack of stone or brick (Fig. 5), 
and that the flashings are to go under the edges of the 
slates. In this case the plumber finishes this portion of 



his work before the slater puts in an appearance, fixing 
the flashings immediately the gutters are done. The lead 
employed for this purpose should be of a good milled 
description, and not less than 6 lb. to the foot, although 
5 lb. lead is often adopted in houses of our own day. 
This is undoubtedly too light; in fact 7 lb. lead, or even 
heavier, would only have satisfied the plumbers of past 
generations. The roof can be measured according to the 
sketch (Fig. 5), and the sectional diagram (Fig. 6). 
The flashing for the gable coping is taken from A B 
for the length. The width may be, say, from a to b 
(Fig. 6) on boarding of roof, 7 in.; from b to c, turned 
up side of coping, 4 in.; from c to d, on top of gable, 3 
in., and in. fixed in the channel, or “chasing,” or 
“raglet,” as it is sometimes called, which is a shallow 





















35 


Dormers, Gutters, Ridges, Etc. 

groove cut by the mason for the purpose. The total 
width of the gable flashing is thus i ft. in. This is 
also known as the “skew” flashing. At C D (Fig. 5) 
is a corner-piece, .or barge, which overlaps the gable 
flashing slightly. 1 he dimensions of this we will take to 
be 1 ft. 3 in. deep, and of length according to the end 
of the chimney (C D, Fig. 5). Of this, 8 p 2 in. will go 
on the roof boarding, e to / (Fig. 3) ; 4 in. up end of 
chimney, f to g; the remaining l / 2 in. being inserted in 
the horizontal chasing at g. The flashing for the chim¬ 
ney (E F, Fig. 5) will, of course, correspond in length 
to the dimensions of the masonry. For the width, it 
may be from e to f (Fig. 7), on roof, 7 in.; from f to g, 
up side of chimney, 4 in.; turned into chasing, g, y 2 in. ; 
total width, ii l / 2 in. 



In fixing the flashings, that for the gable is first bent 
down along its entire length, at F2 in. from one edge, for 
insertion in the coping, and in a contrary direction, at 
7 in. from the other edge. It can then be dressed into its 
place, and fixed in the chasing by means of leaden wedges 
or bats, about 7 in. or 8 in. apart, and the channel after¬ 
wards made secure with cement. The edge of the flash¬ 
ing on the roof may go over the wooden fillet or 
“doubling,” x (Fig. 7), or have a little roll; but the for¬ 
mer plan is preferable. The corner flashing, or barge, 
comes next, and slightly overlaps that just laid. It is 
usual for the corner of this to go partially over the 












36 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


slates; and as we have supposed the roof is not yet 
slated, provision must be made for leaving sufficient space 
to allow the slater to introduce them under the lead, for 
which purpose the metal should be dressed down care¬ 
fully on a piece of thin wood of rather more than the 
substance of a slate. 

The upper edge of this flashing is also secured in the 
masonry by wedges, and afterwards cemented. The 
chimney flashing is subsequently put on. This should 
overlap the last a little, and be secured to the brick or 
stonework above, and provided with a fillet or doubling 
of wood on the outer edge. In cases where an unusually 
large quantity of water has to be carried off, the flash¬ 
ings may be left much wider on the roof, as much as 17 
in. or 18 in., or even more, and provided with a fillet of 
2 in. square, with its top corners rounded off. This is 
first nailed to the boarding, and the lead dressed over it. 

When the chimney or wall against which the upstand 



of the flashings is placed is of brickwork, the lead is not 
usually in one piece, but is arranged as shown in Fig. 14. 
There being no channel ready cut as in masonry, the 
mortar is first well scraped out from the joints of the 
courses of bricks at ascending intervals, as shown, to 
the depth of about 1% in. The under flashing is then 
cut of the requisite length, and about 10 in. wide. This 
will give 7 in. on the roof-boarding, from a b (Fig. 15) 
and an upstand of 3 in., from b to c, against the brick¬ 
work. The upper, or “stepped/’ flashing, so called from 








Dormers, Gutters, Ridges, Etc. 


37 


its resemblance to stairs, may either be cut in one piece 
or in separate “apron” pieces, the latter being more eco¬ 
nomical and easier to fix. In the latter case, the separate 
flashings may be cut out as in Fig. 16. Suppose the 
aprons are to be 4 in. above the roof, as in the upstand 
of the flashings for masonry, of which we have spoken. 
Then, if the lead is cut in a strip of 9 in. wide, and the 
roof is of quarter-pitch, the step aprons can be set out 
with the rule and bevel, as at Fig. 16. The step, when 
inserted in the brickwork, laps 2 in. over the upstand of 
the under flashing, and comes down within 1 in. of the 
root, as at d e (Fig. 15). The reason it is not brought 
down close is to prevent capillary attraction, which would 
draw up the moisture. At Fig. 14 is shown the position 
of the step flashings, the dotted lines indicating the man¬ 
ner in which each step overlaps its predecessor to the 
extent of about a couple of inches. Of course, if the 
pitch is more steep, the bevel must be set to a more acute 
angle. These flashings go about 1 in. into the joint, and 
are secured as before with leaden wedges or “bats,” and 
the joint must be cemented afterwards. Sometimes gal¬ 
vanized wall-hooks or holdfasts are used. 


CHAPTER V. 


RIDGES, FINIALS, ETC. 

Besides attending to the gutters, flashings, and val¬ 
leys, the plumber has also -sometimes to see to the ridge 
of the roof, after the slater has completed his duties. 
Of course, in many cases, the ridge is crowned either by 
slates, the slate roll ribbing, or ornamental ridge tiles, 
with which the plumber has nothing to do. When cast- 
iron ridges are employed he may be expected to lay 
them, but this is by no means always the case. The iron 
ridges are either plain or ornamental along their apexes, 
and their hollow side must have the proper angle to con¬ 
form to the pitch of the roof. They are so constructed 
that each length overlaps somewhat the one previously 
placed in position. Lead ridges are invariably plain at 
the present day, although many ancient ridges bore leaden 
ornaments, of cruciform or other shapes, as, for instance, 
that of Exeter Cathedral (Fig. i). But, for any fancy 
work, zinc has superseded lead, in consequence of the 
superior stiffness of the former metal. The ridge of a 
slated roof, when lead is used, should lap over the slates 
at each end of the ridge-piece, for at least 6 in., prefer¬ 
ably more. This will necessitate a breadth of from 16 in. 
to 24 in., or even more, according to the carpenter’s 
work. 

Figs. 2 and 3 show two different styles of ridge-piece. 
The length of the lead may be such as is most convenient, 
and each piece should lap not less than 4 in. over the 
preceding piece. The lead should not be less than 6 lb. 
milled, but, of course, the weight must be as per specifica¬ 
tion. The lead must be dressed to the form of the ridge, 
and secured at intervals of 1 ft. or 18 in. by lead-headed 
nails, as shown at Fig. 2. For further security against 


Ridges , Finials, Etc. 


39 


strong winds or depredators, galvanized iron saddle 
straps are sometimes nailed on the ridge-piece at more 
or less frequent intervals. 

In hipped roofs, as those are termed which slope up¬ 
wards from each of the walls (as shown at Fig. 5 in 
Chapter IV.), the salient angle of each corner known 
as a “hip” is sometimes covered with lead, at others by 
slates or slate ribbing. When lead is used it is generally 
put over the slates, and may be about 1 ft. wide for an 


nc.t 





ordinary plain hip. It is secured to the back of the hip 
rafter by nails, in the same manner as the ridge. When 
the rafter has a roll upon it, as in Fig. 2, wider lead will 
be necessary. In some cases the lead goes under the 
slates in the manner usual for flashings, and is then fixed 
before the slater begins. Flashings are also, occasionally 











40 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


but rarely, laid over the slates to some distance from 
the walls. These require to be dressed well home, so 
that they fit the slates closely, taking the precaution, 
however, not to crack the latter. The lead can be secured 
to pole-piece of ridge by nails, as at Fig. 3. 

Many modern buildings, both ecclesiastical and civil, 
have small turrets, etc., with conical or domed roofs of 




slate, surmounted by a wrought-iron cross or other orna¬ 
mental finial. These require lead fixed around them, as 
at Figs. 4 (A and B) and 5. It ought to be tolerably 
deep to look effective, and the lower part should be cut 
wavy or zigzag, etc. The lead must be cut to a conical 
or other suitable form, soldered at the joint. Where the 
cost is not an object it is a good plan to have a wooden 
model made of the top of the cone, and dress the lead 































Ridges, Finials, Etc. 


41 


to that. If the finial be provided with a boss rather 
cupped and a spiked shank, as at A, Fig. 5, it will secure 
the lead when driven into the pole. In the Middle Ages 
these finials were themselves frequently made entirely of 
lead, and some are still extant on the Continent. 
Amongst these are some very fine examples of what is 
called regousse work, and the fact that so soft a metal 
as lead should have retained its form for perhaps cen¬ 
turies, when exposed to wind and sun, is rather surpris¬ 
ing. As matters of interest, we give two examples of 



this handiwork of the old plumbers. At Figs. 6 and 7 
we give examples of old French lead finials. Fig. 8 gives 
examples of lead rolls at angles. 

One item of plumber’s work appertaining to roofs re¬ 
mains to be noticed—viz., that connected with skylights, 
trap-doors, and loops or hatches. In general, these roof- 
openings are surrounded by a curb, or a rectangular 
frame of wood, upon which the light or trap rests. The 
lead flashings are put around and dressed up to and upon 
this curb. When, however, the skylights are fixtures, 
it is usual to bring the lead over the glass for about >4 in. 
at the top and sides of the light, and under the glass 




4 2 Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

at the bottom thereof for 2 in. or 3 in. A section of a 
skylight of this description is given at Fig. 8, where A 
and B are the top and bottom of the frame, G the glass, 
and D and E the lead above and below respectively. It 
will be observed that the lead at the bottom is not quite 
in contact with the glass at F. This permits the con¬ 
densed moisture, which is always deposited plentifully on 
skylights of workshops or manufactories where many 
workmen are employed or much gas is burned, to trickle 
down between the glass and the lead. Several plans may 
be adopted to allow of the escape of this water. The 
joiner may prepare small channels in the wood, for in¬ 



stance, into which the lead can be dressed, or the glass be 
bedded on putty above the lead, with similar channels 
formed in the putty. 

Fig. 9 shows the curb of an ordinary trap, from which 
that of a movable skylight does not materially differ, ex¬ 
cept in dimensions. The lead for this can be put on in 
four pieces, as indicated at A, B, C, and D, all these 
flashings being cut sufficiently broad to have 6 in. or 
thereabouts of lead on the roof surface, and sufficient to 
go up the side and on the upper edge of the curb, as 
shown at E. The side pieces, B, C, must also be cut of 
sufficient length to overlap the bottom flashing, A, to a 
slight extent at each corner, they being worked round 















43 


Ridges, Finials, Etc. 

in the manner indicated. The same remark applies to 
the upper piece, D, which in turn overlaps the two pieces, 
B, C, at each top corner. The lower piece, A, is first put 
on, being first set up to the height of the side and top 



of the woodwork, and afterwards dressed to the same, 
the corners cut ofif as shown by dotted lines, and secured 
by a nail now and then to the frame. 

In slated roofs a piece of thin board, rather more than 
the substance of a slate, must be laid along the curb, on 
to which the lead is dressed, in order to leave the slater 
space to pass his slates under the flashing, as previously 
explained. The two side pieces are then put on, and 
treated in a similar manner, with the exception that their 
outer edges are dressed to the doubling, F, G, and their 
lower corners worked well round upon A. The upper 












































44 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

flashing, D, follows, and laps the doubling above the 
curb, and comes round the corners in a similar manner 
to the side pieces. The woodwork here spoken of is, of 




r 'c./2 



course, of simple rectangular form, adapted for an or¬ 
dinary trap or light; but the curbs of skylights are occa¬ 
sionally of an octagonal figure, or where the light is 
conical in shape. The frame upon which it rests may be 
an oval, varying with the pitch or slope of the roof. 

An octagonal curb is shown at Fig. to, and as each 


































Ridges, Finials, Etc. 


45 


side decreases in length as it is further up the roof 
slope, of course, separate measurements are necessary. 
The bottom piece of lead is first fixed, and so on, pro¬ 
ceeding upwards, and giving each a lap over the piece 
previously placed. Fig. 12 is the simplest form of trap, 
being merely an opening in the roof closed inside by a 
sliding shutter. A piece of lead (or preferably here, 
zinc), about 11 in. wide, set up 5 in. at right angles, and 
of sufficient length to extend about 6 in. on each side of 
the opening, goes at the top, A, and another piece of 
similar length, B, is placed at the bottom of the open¬ 
ing, having 6 in. on the slates and 8 in. on the inside 
slope of the frame. In conical and other raised skylights, 
which are usually screwed on after the roof is finished, 
the flashings may be arranged as in Fig. 13, where E 
is part of the curb; A, flashing or gutter; B, lead apron 
turned down over flashing, and leaving an upstand inside 
light when fixed. Pieces of in. lead pipe about ^ in. 
in length are soldered on at intervals, through which the 
joiner passes his screws to secure the skylight. 

External mouldings of wood, such as the cornices 
over street doors, are usually covered with lead of 5 lb. 
or 6 lb., slightly turned over the edge of the moulding, 
and with an upstand of 6 in. against the brickwork. This 
should be provided with flashings of 5 lb. lead, although 
sometimes it is merely secured to the brickwork by wall- 
hooks. 

The top of the stonework of bay windows is some¬ 
times covered with the lead, in which case provision 
should be made for a small marginal gutter with a fall 
towards each angle of the bay, where a small pipe pro¬ 
jecting about 6 in. should be soldered. This prevents 
the drip from injuring plants in flower-boxes or spot¬ 
ting the window panes. 

We have in most cases mentioned the least weight per 
foot of the lead to be employed in the various depart¬ 
ments of outdoor plumbing. In no case should it fall 
short of the weight named in the specifications of any 
particular job. It may be roughly calculated that 1 cwt. 
of sheet lead will usually cover a platform, flat, roof, etc., 


46 Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

of the given superficies below, at the respective weight 
per foot stated: Four pounds equals 28 ft., 5 lb. equals 
22 ft. 5 in., 6 lb. equals 18 ft. 8 in., 7 lb. equals 16 ft., 
8 lb. equals 14 ft., 9 lb. equals 12 ft. 6 in., and 12 lb. 
equals 9 ft. Old lead, sent for recasting, is usually sub¬ 
ject to a deduction of 6 lb. per cwt. for waste. 


CHAPTER VI. 


GUTTERS AND PIPES. 

In London and large towns the gutters and pipes are 
usually of cast iron, sometimes of galvanized iron, but in 
very many country places zinc has followed lead in this 
capacity and proves a convenient and safe substitute. 



Gutters are very easily formed of zinc. The slip of 
the desired width being cut off the roll with shears or 
knife is gently hammered to the correct curvature over a 
mould of wood made to order by the carpenter, some¬ 
thing like in section A (Fig. i), which is screwed up in 
one or a couple of vices or otherwise fixed firmly on 
the shop board. When this is done, the trough is turned 
right way up, and the “stays,” which are formed of a 
small piece of zinc, rolled up round a kind of close tube, 
are soldered across from side to side of the top at in¬ 
tervals (A A, Fig. 5) to hold the trough together and 
brace it. Of course, the angles at which the guttering 
joins at any internal or external angle of the roof will 
be cut to shape before the zinc is curved, and it is in 
this case that plans of proper cutting out are useful. It 
must be remembered that zinc is a less pliable metal than 
lead or copper, or even than tinned iron, and very 

















48 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


springy. This last qualification renders it difficult to get 
zinc to take and retain a new shape when worked cold. 
But if it be heated over the fire to nearly boiling point 
(212 degrees Fahr.) there will be no more trouble on 
this score. It is not so easy to solder as tin and resin is 





rather uncertain with it. The hydrochloric acid (com¬ 
mercially known as “spirits of salts") acts better and so 
does “Baker’s soldering fluid." The copper bit, well 
tinned, is the tool used. There are several gas blowpipes 
or soldering jets manufactured (one, by Mr. Fletcher, of 
Warrington, very good), which act well with moderate 
care. The surface of the zinc at the joints should be 
clean and scraped bright. Do not use too much solder. 

An important point not to be overlooked is the cutting 
of the ends of gutters and pipes so that they shall form 
proper joints at angles. To illustrate this in a merely 
elementary manner, we may say that the sections for 














Gutters and Pipes. 40 

which joints are required are those of a cylinder cut at 
any angle. 

Fig. 2 shows how to get at the figure produced by 
cutting a cylinder in a diagonal or slanting direction. If 
we cut a cylinder at right angles to its length or, in other 
words, parallel to its base, as at C E (Fig. 2), we get a 
circle; but if we cut the cylinder obliquely to its base, as 
at F G (Fig. 2), the section produced is an ellipse. In 
many cases a knowledge of the method of finding the 
precise form of the ellipse produced by such oblique 
cuttings of a cylinder is of considerable importance to 
the artisan, and this we proceed to describe. 

Let A B C E (Fig. 2) be a cylindrical pipe, or tube, 
or rod, which has to pass through some Hat surface (as 
a roof, ceiling, iron plate, etc.), F G, which lies obliquely 
to the base of the pipe or tube, and let it', moreover, be 
desired to find the form of ellipse that will need to be 
made or perforated in such root or plate, to allow it to 
pass through. Through H (Fig. 6) draw C E at right 
angles to C A and E B respectively. Divide the semi¬ 
circumference, Cabcdefgliik E, into any number 
of equal parts (the more the better, as the ordinates will 
give a great number of points through which to trace the 
curve of the ellipse). From the points thus obtained in 
the circumference draw lines parallel to C A or E B, as 
k i h g, etc., cutting the line, C E, in the points, D H I 
g, etc., and produce them until they cut the diagonal line, 
F G, in l n p r, etc. Next, from the latter points and at 
right angles to F G, draw the lines, / m, n 0, q c, r s , etc. 
Then from D measure to semi-circle, and set off this dis¬ 
tance from / to m on the line, l m. Next measure from 
H to the semi-circle, and set the distance off from n to o 
on the line, n 0. In the same manner transfer the other 
distances to p q, r s, etc. Repeat these operations upon 
the other side of the line, F G. Finally, through the 
points thus obtained draw the ellipse by hand. 

Fig. 3 shows the method of getting out form of end 
of cylindrical pipe for a right-angled joint at end; Fig. 
4 for an oblique angle. 

Besides dealing with lead gutters laid in stone or upon 


50 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


boarding, the plumber is very often, though not invaria¬ 
bly, called upon to fix cast iron, zinc, or galvanized iron 
eavesgutters. With the making of the first he has, of 



course, nothing to do; and although in some country 
places the plumber does construct the last, yet this so 
often falls to the share of the whitesmith that it does not 
enter upon our plan to treat of it. The old-fashioned 
wooden gutter, or troughing, which still lingers in re¬ 
mote districts, is put up, as well as made, by the carpen¬ 
ter; and projecting leaden gutters may be considered en- 










































Gutters and Pipes. 


51 


tirely things of the past, as, besides the item of cost, lead 
is not so adapted for eaves-gutters as either of the other 
metals. For the present we are simply concerned with 
the fixing of the gutters, of whatever material. 

Cast-iron gutters (Fig. 5, A, B, C) are made in a con¬ 
siderable variety of forms, from the simple half-round 



C 


D 





to those moulded more or less elaborately. Those of a 
square section have been introduced comparatively re¬ 
cently, and are well adapted to some styles of building, 
more particularly to ecclesiastical architecture. Gutters 
also vary in size, from a 3 in. half-round upwards, so that 
their carrying power can be proportioned to the extent 
of roof superficies. They are usually cast in lengths of 
6 ft., but shorter pieces may be had if desired. Each 
length has a shallow flange at one end (Fig. 5, C). 
Lengths or short pieces can be had with a closed end 
and with a drop-pipe or a nozzle (Fig. 1, A) to take 
into the vertical pipe or conductor which leads to the 
sewer or rain-water butt. 

At the extremity of each length, when fixed, where 
its plain (or “spigot,” as it is sometimes termed) ends 
rest in the flanged (or “faucet”) end of the next length, 



















































52 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


it is requisite that the junction be made watertight by 
means of red lead or putty, and for further security *4 






in. iron bolts, about i in. long, and provided with nuts, 
are passed through holes drilled in both pipes, the heads 
being inside, and the nuts then are tightened up. Some¬ 
times only one bolt is used at each joint, in which case 
the hole may be in the center and lowest part of the 
trough, and midway of the length of the flange. In other 
cases two bolts are used, the first plan being shown at 
D (Fig. 5), and the second at E, in the same figure. 
















































































Gutters and Pipes. 


53 


Occasionally a strip of thin lead is placed between the 
surface of the gutters before the bolts are tightened; 
and sometimes, but rarely, solder is run in the joint. 

The common half-round certainly adds little to the 
appearance of a building of any pretensions. It is, at 
least, only a necessary evil; but some of the moulded 
patterns form excellent eave terminations, especially if 
painted to correspond with adjacent stone or woodwork. 
Even the ordinary fillet and ogee pattern is a great ad¬ 
vance upon the other. 

The half-round iron gutter is supported by iron hooks 
at frequent intervals, the shanks of which are nailed or 
screwed to the woodwork of the roof. These hooks may 
be about y 2 in. wide by l /\ in. in thickness, and with their 
curved portion agreeing with that of the gutter, but hav¬ 
ing the pendant part of the shank about ks in. longer in 
each hook, to allow the gutter to have a proper amount 
of fall, reckoning that there is a hook about every 3 ft. 
Thus, F, G, and H (Fig. 5) show three hooks of differ¬ 
ent lengths of shank, F being adapted for sustaining the 
higher end of the gutter, and G and H, respectively, 
lower portions. It is most convenient to have these 
hooks made by the smith; but, if necessary, any handy 
man can make them for himself from good malleable 
hoop iron of proper size, the iron being heated to red¬ 
ness, while the two screwholes are punched in each piece, 
and while it is bent into shape. The hooks should be 
primed with red lead, and subsequently painted to match 
the gutter. If it is necessary that the hooks should be 
fixed to brickwork, they should be forged to a pointed 
end similar to that of a wall-hook; while if, on the other 
hand, they have to be affixed to masonry, such, for in¬ 
stance, as a stone cornice, the mason must sink holes in 
the upper surface of the stonework into which the end of 
the shank, bent down at a right angle, is inserted, and 
secured either by means of weights, or by being run in 
with lead. Iron stays are advisable at intervals to enable 
the gutter to resist the power of strong winds. 

The better class of iron gutters are fixed in different 
ways. Sometimes they are secured to the woodwork of 


I 


54 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


the roof by screws, which pass through holes in the back 
of the gutter, as shown at Fig. 6. At others iron brack¬ 
ets, of designs more or less ornamental, and correspond¬ 
ing as far as possible to the contour of the gutter, are 
used, as at A, Fig. 6. These gutters have no projecting 


Ml 



II sir! 1 f HIM 


a1--I 

I 1 II III I 1 1 

TpjTiTI 1 "' >7Ti * 1 * 



flC.7 



flange at one end of each length, as such protuberances 
would tend to mar the good effect of the run of mould- 
ings. Each end is, therefore, of the same external form 
but one end of each length is lessened in size, so that it 
may slip into the corresponding end of the next length 
telescope fashion, as at Fig. 3, being then secured\v 
bolts, as shown, with the aid of putty and red lead. In 
this case the bolts, which are larger than those used with 
the. half-round gutters, have their heads outside, and in 




























































































































































































Gutters and Pipes. 


55 


a counter-sunk recess in the gutter. It will not be neces¬ 
sary to give this kind of gutter much fall, as they are 
generally employed in a class of house where the appear¬ 
ance of the frontage is of moment. 

As a rule, in a house standing alone, one end of the 
gutter is a closed one; sometimes both are so, the water 
escaping by a conductor which runs down the center of 
the building. A closed end is shown at Fig. 7. These, 
of course, are cast to match the gutter with which they 
are to be used. The modes of connecting the gutter with 
the rain-water pipe or conductor vary according to the 
exigencies of the situation. Sometimes there is no ob¬ 
jection to the conductor being visible on any part of the 
house front; at others so much is this disliked that the 
pipes are carried dow r n inside the brickwork. Occasion¬ 
ally in semi-detached villas a recess is let in the center of 
the external brickwork (as at A, Fig. 8). More fre¬ 
quently, in suburban houses of this character, an angle 
pipe is carried from front gutter round to the rain-water 
head, fixed against the side of the wall, as shown at B, 
Fig. 4. 

Cast-iron heads to match the gutter are .made in a 
variety of designs. Following the same plan as should 
guide in choosing the gutters, the heads (and also the 
conductors) should be selected of ample size to receive 
and carry off the heaviest presumable flow from the spe¬ 
cial roof for which they are chosen. Fig. 4 represents 
two forms of rain-water heads, and two plans of con¬ 
necting the gutter with them. 

The fixing of zinc gutters does not differ in any ma¬ 
terial degree from that adopted for the plain cast-iron 
kind, with the exception that all joints, whether of 
lengths of gutter or elsewhere, must be soldered, and as 
the zinc is so much thinner and lighter than the iron it 
may require to be secured to the hooks at intervals, either 
by small bolts through the side of the gutter and the 
strap of the hook which supports it, by leaving a curved 
end to the hook, over which the outer rolled edge of the 
zinc may be turned, or by tying it with copper wire, or, 
yet again, by a stay and screw at intervals. 


CHAPTER VII. 


THE SUPPLY AND STORAGE OF WATER. 

Water being a primal necessity of life every genera¬ 
tion has felt the imperative need of procuring and stor¬ 
ing the indispensable fluid in a potable condition. 


re • 



Of course, in more primitive times than the present 
the main reliance was placed on rivers, lakes, springs, 
and other natural sources of supply. Rain water also 
was too valuable to be wasted, and tanks and cisterns 
must have been early resorted to. 

Some of these lead cisterns, still in good condition, are 
of great antiquity. Mr. P. J. Davies, in his excellent 
treatise on plumbing, gives a drawing of a dated one 416 
years old, and “in a perfect state of preservation,” and 
of another circular one, of which he says, “This bears 
the date 1552; it is, therefore, 332 years old” (pub- 














57 


The Supply and Storage of Water. 

lished in 1885), “and in as good condition as on the day 
that it was made. This shape (cylindrical) tells a tale 
that even in those days plumbers knew the strongest 
form and manner of construction.” 

The pump has been defined by one celebrated writer 
on mechanical philosophy as “the last step in the prog¬ 
ress of man’s ingenuity for raising water.” It is emi¬ 
nently the product of a certain degree of civilization and 
technical skill. No such apparatus is known to savage 
tribes, and even semi-civilized races do not possess any¬ 
thing analogous. The Shadoof of the Eastern and the 
Sakieh of the Egyptian are but rude means of raising 
water from an adjacent stream, and even the ingenious 
Chinese were not acquainted with pumps at the time of 
the first historical visit of Europeans to the “Flowery 
Land.” Nor does the pump appear to have been known 
to Greece or Rome in their palmy days, great aqueduct 
constructors as were the great Latin race. 

Indeed, a principle of physical science is involved in 
pump making, which the ancients, with their scanty 
scientific knowledge, could scarcely be expected to pos¬ 
sess, and which is altogether above the plane of the in¬ 
tellect of uncivilized races. 

It would not seem that any philosopher anterior to 
Galileo had taken account of atmospheric weight or pres¬ 
sure. The Burgomaster of Magdeburg, Otto Guericke, 
to whom we owe the invention of the air-pump, and the 
Italian, Torricelli, added to the scanty facts known to 
Galileo. Torricelli’s celebrated experiment is shown at 
Fig. 1. A glass tube of, say, 3 ft. long and in. bore, 
is hermetically sealed at one end and filled with mercury. 
The finger is -then applied firmly at the open extremity 
of the tube, and it is reversed in such manner that its 
lower and open end is plunged into a vessel of mercury. 
On the removal of the finger the mercury in the tube will 
sink to a slight extent, but when it stands about 30 in. 
above of the level of the surface of the mercury in the 
open vessel it will remain in the tube to that height. This 
mercury in the tube is kept in its position by the pressure 
of the atmosphere on surface of the metal in the open 


58 Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

vessel. The weight of the atmosphere at the surface of 
the earth is about 1^4 oz. to the cubic foot, and the 
weight of a cubic foot of water, taken at its maximum 
density, which is about 39.1 degrees Fahr., is about 62^ 
lbs. The mean pressure of the atmosphere is about 14 
lbs. to the square inch; and as a column of water of 32 
ft., in a pipe whose sectional area is one square inch, 
will weigh about 14 lbs., the atmosphere and the water 
will counterbalance each other. Thus, if we know the 



number of pounds of pressure exercised on the square 
inch, we can obtain the number of feet of water balanced 
by multiplying by 2 2~7ths or 2*4, thus: 14 lb. multiplied 
by 2 2~7ths equals 32, which is about the height in feet of 
the column of water. By Torricelli’s experiment also 
we find that the air will counterbalance a column of mer¬ 
cury of 29 in. or 30 in., and as this metal is thirteen times 
the weight of water, we get the formula, 29^ in. (mer- 















































































































The Supply and Storage of Water. 


59 


cury) by 13 (water) equals 32 ft. As a little power is 
lost in practice in the working of a pump, it is convenient 
and tolerably correct to consider that about 28 ft. is the 
extent from which a pump will fetch water, this being 






about equivalent to the atmospheric pressure at the sur¬ 
face of the earth, as stated. In elevated spots the pres¬ 
sure decreases according to altitude. 





























60 Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

Pumps, however varied in their construction, act, then, 
by removing the air contained in a tube placed above the 
stratum of water, which rises to fill the vacuum so formed 
to any height up to 28 ft. The depth of the well for 
ordinary iron, lead, or wood suction pumps, such as are 
in common use, does not consequently exceed this. Many 
wells (without including the kind termed artesian) are, 
however, very much deeper than this, and the expedient 



resorted to in such cases is the sinking of the pump 
apparatus itself beneath the ground-level until it reaches 
to within about 28 ft. of the water. Usually the iron 
rod, to which the bucket is attached, is lengthened to the 
required degree. In mines of considerable depth a sys¬ 
tem of gradually ascending pumps is resorted to, of 
which the lowermost raises the water to a cistern in 
which the end of the sucking-pipe of the second is placed. 
This latter in its turn elevates the fluid to a second cis¬ 
tern, from which a third pump draws it, and so on until 
the surface of the earth at the pit’s mouth is attained. 
This system of pump is connected to one long rod in the 
pit shaft, actuated by a pumping engine at the mouth. 

We have said that the pump is an invention compara¬ 
tively modern; yet it had some ancient resemblances, 




























































































61 


The Supply and Storage of Water. 

which, by a kind of mechanical evolution, may have sug¬ 
gested it to inventive and observing minds. The old 
Egyptian wheel, upon the rim of which pots of rude 
earthenware were lashed, contained the germ of an idea 
of an overshot water-wheel, and each is but a series of 
revolving buckets. Some years since, certain Danish 
missionaries found in Siam a contrivance which Dr. 
Robinson considered the “immediate offspring” of the 
bucketed wheel. This was also a wheel, turned by 
an ass, and bearing upon its periphery, in the place of 
the row of earthen pots, a string of wisps of hay,.which 
were drawn through a wooden trunk, and formed in 
some sort a kind of primitive chain pump. Probably this 
antique apparatus may be considered the immediate pred¬ 
ecessor of the pump, at least of that variety which is 
called the lifting-pump. At Fig. 2 the form of pump 
thus termed is illustrated. In this diagram A B C D is 
a metal cylinder, of no great length, placed beneath the 
surface of the water, E shows a valve fixed in the top 
of the cylinder, and, as usual in pump work, opening 
upwards. G H is a tube attached to the top of the cylin¬ 
der, and carried up to the required height for the deliv¬ 
ery of the water. A watertight bucket or piston, I, works 
up and down in the cylinder, being provided with a 
valve, K, opening upwards. This piston is worked up 
and down by the frame or cage, L M, attached to the 
rod, N, and actuated by any requisite power. The level 
of the water in the well or reservoir is indicated by the 
line, O O. Upon the descent of the piston, the pressure 
of the water beneath raises the valve, K, and the por¬ 
tion of the cylinder between the two valves becomes 
filled with water. When the piston is lifted, the pressure 
of the contained water opens the valve, E, and the fluid 
is forced into the pipe, G H. On the depression of the 
piston the return of the water from this pipe is prevented 
by the closing of the valve, E. The hydrostatic pressure 
of the water in the well necessarily impels a portion of 
its contents to close up behind the piston as it ascends, 
and upon its downward passage again this water passes 
through the valve, K, to be in its turn raised and forced 


62 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


through the valve, E, at the next ascent of the piston. As 
the upper valve holds the water in the pipe back during 
the piston’s descent, and as obviously no air can be con¬ 
tained in the cylinder, the ascent of the water through 
the valve, K, at each descent of the piston is an inevitable 
result. In its turn this latter lower valve fufils an in¬ 
dispensable function in preventing the return of the 
water in the cylinder during the up stroke. 

In calculating the actuating power necessary to work 
an instrument of this kind, we must reckon that in order 



to raise the piston a force is required adequate to sus¬ 
tain the column of water from the lower valve, K, to 
the height attained by the water in the delivery tube, 
G H. To arrive at this, it is requisite to take the weight 
of a column of water whose base is equal to the'sectional 
area of the piston, and whose height is equivalent to 
that of the surface of the water above the valve, and in 
the tube, G H. It follows that after each stroke of an 


























The Supply and Storage of Water. 63 

apparatus of this kind, the pressure of the fluid upon the 
piston, and the necessary lifting force, will be increased 
by the weight of a column of water having a base equal 
to the horizontal sectional area of the piston, and its 
height equal to the increased elevation that the surface 
of the water in the tube reaches at each stroke. It is 
plain that, although there exists (or would exist, were 
it not at once filled by the water) a virtual vacuum in 
this machine, its action is more simple, and its principles 
less scientific, than those of the forcing and suction 
pumps, and that it is, in fact, a lifting apparatus not far 
elevated above the ruder expedients of uncultivated 
races. 

The next form in ascending order is the forcing pump 
(Fig. 3), which, though more philosophical in construc¬ 
tion than the lifting pump, is still inferior in this regard 
to the ordinary suction pump. This consists, as shown in 
the diagram, of a working barrel, A B C D, connected 
by flanges and bolts to a suction pipe, E F, which goes 
down to the well, pond, or reservoir from which the sup¬ 
ply is obtained, and is furnished at its lower extremity 
with a strainer, G, to keep back stones or gravel. The 
point of junction between the pump cylinder and the suc¬ 
tion pipe is closed by the clack valve, H, opening up¬ 
wards. The branch pipe up which the water is forced is 
variously constructed. A very usual form is to form it 
in three parts—the first, I K, forming part of the cylin¬ 
der, to which is bolted the short elbow, L M, and to this 
again the pipe, N O, of sufficient length to carry the 
water to the required height, is affixed, at the junction 
of the cylinder pipe and the elbow the valve, P, is fixed. 
In some kinds of pump the bend is cast on the cylinder, 
and the valve is placed at the junction, Q, of this and 
the ascending pipe. 

The action of this apparatus is very simple. When the 
piston rises with the ascending action of the lever or 
handle, a vacuum is, of course, caused in the barrel, 
which the water instantly ascends to fill, rising to the 
height which the lower surface of the piston attains. 
When the piston is now in turn forced down, the pres- 


G4 Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

sure of the superincumbent water keeps the valve, H, 
closed, so it is necessary that the fluid should find some 
other outlet. Its pressure against the side valve, P, now 
forces that open, and the contents of the cylinder are 
forced as the piston descends into the pipe, L, M, N, O. 
On the second ascent of the piston a vacuum is again 
created in the cylinder, the valve, P, restraining the water 
in the pipe, L, M, from again passing into it. Conse¬ 
quently, the water again flows up from the supply-pipe, 
E, E, We have spoken of the water as following the 



first effective stroke of the piston. It must, however, be 
understood that the first three or four strokes are fre¬ 
quently applied to forcing out the air from the cylinder 
and pipes. By this process the water may be raised to a 
height of twenty-eight degrees or thereabouts, as ex¬ 
plained. 

From the construction of the force-pump already given 
it is clear that the supply of water through the valve can- 


































The Supply and Storage of IV a ter. 


65 


not be constant, as, during the rising of the bucket or 
piston, the supply will fail, and, as a natural consequence, 
the discharge from the pump will he intermittent. There 
are several ways of obviating this drawback, the most 
effective and common being by the employment of an 
“air vessel." This expedient is shown in Fig. 4. A 
tube is placed about the outlet valve, A, and leads to a 
strong metal vessel of sufficient size. The force pipe, C 
D, passes through the top of the vessel, and reaches 
nearly to the bottom. During the working of the pump 
the water is forced into the receiver, B, and as it gradu¬ 
ally arises therein the air contained in the vessel is 
strongly compressed, and therefore brings its elasticity to 
bear upon the surface of the water at x x. The pressure 
thus exerted forces a column of water into the pipe, C 
D, and sustains it there at a height dependent upon the 
elastic force of the compressed air, which will, of course, 
differ according to the degree of its condensation. Thus, 
when the air in the vessel, B, is reduced to half its origi¬ 
nal bulk, it will exert upon the surface of the water 
double the ordinary atmospheric pressure. But the water 
in the pipe, D C, itself is only influenced by a single at¬ 
mospheric pressure, and hence it results that there is an 
unresisted force in an upward direction equal to the 
pressure of the atmosphere. 

This surplus unresisted force, which is equivalent to 
the atmospheric pressure, will therefore sustain a column 
of water equal to that which the air itself will sustain— 
viz., 34 ft., or a little less. Were the air in the vessel 
still further compressed, its elastic force would be in¬ 
creased. Thus, if it were reduced to one-third of its 
bulk, in place of one-half, it would sustain a column of 
water 68 ft. in height, and in like proportion according 
to the intensity of compression. It may be noted inci¬ 
dentally that, as with the hydraulic ram, the air contained 
in the chamber originally will become gradually absorbed 
by the water in its passage through the pump, and will 
therefore require to be occasionally renewed. 

The force-pump may be constructed in such manner as 
to be double-acting, as shown at Fig. 5. This is better 


66 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


than the ordinary form, as it yields a less intermittent 
stream; and where an air-chamber is employed, a smaller 
one will suffice for the double-action force-pump than 
would be necessary for the ordinary kind. This pump 
acts in the following manner: When the piston, A, de¬ 
scends in the cylinder, B, the two valves, C and D, are 
lorcibly closed, E and F meanwhile opening, with the 
result that water enters through E behind the piston, and 



fic. 0 nc.7 


is forced in front of it through the valve, F, and along 
the pipe, G H. On the rising of the piston, the position 
of the valves becomes reversed, the water then finding 
an entrance through C, and being expelled by D, as 
shown in the figure. 

When it is requisite that water should be raised to a 
great height or against considerable resistance, a solid 
plunger is adopted in the force-pump in lieu of the usual 















































The Supply and Storage of Water. 67 

piston and rod. This is an analogous expedient to that 
resorted to in the hydrostatic or hydraulic press. Fig. 6 
represents a plunger-pump of this kind, where the solid 
plunger, A, passes through a tightly-packed stuffing-box, 
B, into the cylinder, C. The action of the valves is, ot 
course, the same as in a pump furnished with the usual 
piston. Pumps of this kind were employed at the water¬ 
works at York Buildings, on the Thames, London, 
in the last century; but the same plan is described in 
Commandine’s translation of Heron’s “Spiritalia.” 

There are many other modifications of the force-pump, 
but, passing these, we proceed to the last and most gen¬ 
erally useful apparatus for raising water—viz., the com¬ 
mon suction pump. 

This instrument consists of a barrel or cylinder (A, 
Fig. 7), with a suction or supply pipe, B, fixed to its 
lower extremity reaching to the water, and provided at 
the bottom either with a perforated ball or a flat plate, C, 
full of holes, to prevent the ascent of gravel or grit. So 
far its form is identical with that of the force-pump. The 
piston, D, is generally in form of an inverted truncated 
cone, as shown, the base of which is surrounded by a 
stout band of leather fastened on by flat-headed tacks 
driven in closely together. The piston, or bucket, is 
generally made of wood of a kind which is little affected 
by being kept alternately wet or dry, alder and hornbeam 
standing this ordeal without splitting better than most 
woods. The leather band around the piston is a little 
tapering at the upper portion, and ought to fit the pump- 
barrel tightly when the piston is introduced. In the 
center of the piston is the aperture, E, which is closed 
by the leather valve, G. This valve, which exceeds 
slightly in circumference the aperture over which it is 
placed, is fastened to the wood by a tail or lug, which 
acts as a hinge, and a small leaden weight on its upper 
surface serves to compress it very slightly. The piston 
is attached to the rod by means of the fork, H. The 
cylinder of the pump is connected with the suction pipe 
by screw bolts through the flange at J K, as in the pumps 
previously adverted to, and at this point of junction is 


68 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


placed the valve, I. This valve is usually of the form 
shown at Fig. 8. Upon the flanges found at J K, in con¬ 
sequence of the diameter of the cylinder being greater 
than that of the suction pipe, a roundel, or collar of 
leather, N P O (Fig. 8), is fitted, it being hollowed from 
N to O to admit the tail of the valve. The valve is of 
greater diameter than the aperture, and circular in shape, 
being loaded at the top with a plate of iron or copper, O, 
of circular form and rather larger than the hole it is 
meant to close. As will be apparent from the details of 
Fig. 8, when the flanges at J K are bolted together, the 
tail or lug of the valve, N, and also the leather roundel, 
or collar, R S T, will be secured between them. 

We have dwelt upon the details of the ordinary valve 
here, as it had not been noticed in the previous descrip¬ 
tions. There are, however, other forms of valve, which 
for the present we may pass over. 

The principle of the suction-pump's action may be 
thus briefly described: Before a stroke is taken, the water 
in the suction-pipe maintains, of course, the same level 
as that in the well, both being subject to the same at¬ 
mospheric pressure. The piston is then in its elevated 
position. On lowering the pump handle the piston de¬ 
scends and compresses the air, which forces up the valve, 
G, and ascends above the piston. On the ascent of the 
latter, the valve is kept close by the downward pressure 
of the air. By this means a partial vacuum is formed in 
the pump-barrel, and this the air in the upper part of the 
suction-pipe, B, hastens to occupy, forcing up the the 
valve, L, which is now free from superincumbent at¬ 
mospheric weight, in doing so. As the air is thus gradu¬ 
ally withdrawn from the suction-pipe the water hastens 
to take its place both in the upper part of the suction- 
pipe and eventually in the cylinder itself. When this is 
the case, it is clear that, upon the descent of the piston. 
D, the water will in its turn force up the valve, G, and 
when the piston ascends again, it will lift to the spout or 
exit pipe of the pump the superincumbent water, whose 
own pressure will meanwhile keep the valve, G, tightly 
closed against its return. 


69 


The Supply and Storage of Water. 

_ A miniature form of force-pump (Fig. 9) is of con¬ 
siderable utility to plumbers for removing the water from 
choked service-pipes and similar purposes. This hand 
force-pump has a small plunger working through a stuf¬ 
fing-box, and is, in arrangement of valves, etc.j a coun¬ 
terpart of the larger pump already described. 



The piston bucket, or working-box, forms a very im¬ 
portant part of a pump of whatever description. For 
some purposes it is made solid, for others pierced. The 
material may be either wood, surrounded by leather, or 
metal, frequently also in combination with leather, the 
latter having the recommendation of greater durability. 
The remarks of Robison on this subject are so pertinent 
(although, be it noted, he is speaking of the wooden 
working-box only) that we cannot do better than quote 
them:— 

“The piston," he says, “is a sort of truncated cone, 
generally made of wood not apt to split, such as elm or 



















70 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


beech. The small end of it is cut off at the sides, so as 
to form a sort of arch, by which it is fastened to the iron 
rod or spear (Fig. io). The two ends of the conical 
part may be hooped with brass. The cone has its larger 
end surrounded with a ring or band of strong leather, 
fastened with nails or by a copper hoop, which is driven 
on at the smaller end. This band should reach to some 
distance beyond the base of the wire—the further the bet¬ 
ter—and the whole must be of uniform thickness all 
round, so as to suffer equal compression between the 
cone and the working barrel. 

“It is by no means necessary that this compression be 
great. This is a very detrimental erfor of the pump- 



makers. It occasions enormous friction, and destroys the 
very purpose which they have in view—viz., the render¬ 
ing the piston air-tight, for it causes the leather to wear 
through very soon at the edge of the cone, and it also 
wears the working barrel. This very soon becomes wide 
in that part which is continually passed over by the pis¬ 
ton, while the mouth remains of its original diameter, and 
it becomes impossible to thrust in a piston which shall 
completely fill the worn part. 

“Now a very moderate pressure is sufficient for ren¬ 
dering the pump perfectly tight, and a piece of glove- 
leather would be sufficient for this purpose if loose or de¬ 
tached from the solid cone; for suppose such a loose and 







The Supply and Storage of Water . 71 

flexible, but impervious, band of leather put round the 
piston and put into the barrel, and let it even be supposed 
that the cone does not compress it in the smallest degree 
to its internal surface. Pour a little water carefully into 
the inside of this sort of cup or dish; it will cause it to 
swell out a little, and apply itself close to the barrel all 
round, and even adjust itself to all its irregularities. We 
can easily compute the force with which it is pressed. It 
is half the weight of a ring of water, i in. deep and i in. 
broad. This is a trifle, and the friction occasioned by it 
not worth regarding; yet this trifling pressure is suffi¬ 
cient to make the passage perfectly impervious, even by 
the most enormous pressure of a high column of incum¬ 
bent water.” 


CHAPTER VIII. 


STORAGE OF FLUSHING AND DRINKING WATER, DELIVERY 

AND CONTROL. 

Where wooden cisterns are used they are generally 
lead-lined. When the wood bottoms are good, which 
rarely happens, triangular pieces of wood are placed 
round the sides and the bottom, the lead is turned up and 
on to the top edge, along which the seam will be made. 
This is also often done when the seams are burned. 
Lead cisterns are now practically out of date, and when 
worn out they are not always renewed; more often a 
galvanized iron cistern is bought with the price of the old 
lead and put in its place. Fig. i shows the interior of a 
lead cistern having service pipes in the bottom and sides, 
and the service box, with air pipe, valve, and wire to ball 
lever, for the flushing of a pan closet. In one corner is 
the standing waste and overflow. Such cisterns were 
originally intended to receive and store the rain water 
from roof, and the water pumped from the well and con¬ 
veyed thither by the rising main pipes. Most of these 
cisterns had a float with a light chain attached to it, and 
at the other end a small weight which traveled up and 
down a tell-tale board, indicating the quantity of water 
in the cistern to the person at the pump. It is on account 
of the rain water that the standing waste is so large —4 
in. to 5 in.—so as to pass off all the rain water in case of 
a heavy shower when the cistern is full. The treatment 
of this standing waste as regards its termination was 
always bad, it being often connected to the soil pipe or 
direct to the drain, often a brick drain. Sometimes a 
trap would be fixed at the top, as shown by the dotted 
lines. All the angles are shown wiped, as was custom¬ 
ary at the time. In the illustration is shown a round 


Storage of Flushing and Drinking Water. 


73 


service box, although, perhaps, the oblong box is more 
frequently met with, owing to the use at the time of shoe 
and spring valves, which require a flat top. The valve 
shown is the drop valve usual with round service boxes. 
When the main service is laid on to such a cistern the 
standing waste is often taken out, or it may be left in for 
cleaning purposes. At all events, it must be rendered 
useless as an overflow and a new one fixed. 

What is called a shower cistern is shown at Fig. 2, the 
lead colander and ball valve being omitted. The shower 
and cistern are usually fixed over the foot of the bath, 
although they are occasionally placed over the head in 
such position, that it is almost impossible to get under 
them without the risk of falling, owing to the shape of 



the bath shoulder. When leaden baths were in general 
use showers were almost always fixed over them. The 
lining of the cistern is the same as lining a sink. The 
making of the colander carries one’s thoughts back to the 
old D trap. The size and shape of these vary, the com¬ 
monest form being an ellipse 14 in. long, 10 in. wide, 3 in. 
deep. The front is first struck out, and flamished up 
ready for lining out, the lines being spaced about in. 
apart, beginning at the center. The holes are then 



























74 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


picked out with the compasses, the spaces between being 
in. Now the punching of the holes varies, some 
punching them from the front and others from the back. 
When punched from the back the face is left rough, no 
attempt being made to trim up the metal forced through 
by the spring bit, the lead being laid on a piece of soft 
wood and not moved until all the holes are punched. 
When the holes are punched from the front the rough¬ 
ness is trimmed off the back side, the spring bit having a 
flat end, and not pointed as before. The lead is again 
flamished out, and the front scoured with sand and water. 



The band is cut out MA in- wide, in. being doubled 
over at the front edge to carry the face of the colander. 
The face of the colander is soldered round the band on 
the inside with the copper bit. The back is marked out 
from the front, allowing 24 in. all round for the thickness 
of the lead and the wiped seam. When the front is sol¬ 
dered to the band the band will be ready for soldering 











































Storage of Flushing and Drinking Water. 75 

to the back. The flush pipe and air pipe are afterward 
wmed in, the holes having been cut in the back previous 
to its being soldered to the band. In some cases the 
colander will be kept hard up against the bottom of cis¬ 
tern, and in others the pipe may be 2 ft. long. A short 
length keeps the shower distinct from the cistern. The 
flush pipe to shower is tafted on the cistern bottom, and 
the valve seat secured to it, and the soldered joint be¬ 
tween them and the cistern wiped. The air pipe may 
also be tafted on the bottom and the length inside the 
cistern wiped to it and the cistern after it has been bent to 
its position. The loops in the wire are to give a little 
play between the valve and lever, so that the valve will 
seat itself properly. 

The greatest fault to be found with the slate cistern is 
that it is jointed with red lead, and there is nothing else 
that will make a good job. Anyone who condemns a 
slate cistern on account of the small surface of red lead 
presented to the action of the water in favor of a sheet 
lead cistern must be a trifle peculiar. Of the two evils 
the small surface of red lead at the edges of a slate 
cistern is by far the least; and as they are practically 
everlasting, they must be much better than lead ones. 
They are also cleaner than any other, except, of course, 
the new earthenware and stoneware cisterns; but these 
will not stand the frost so well as slate, and it has yet to 
be proved that they will not crack at the connections in 
the same way as baths often do. Two slate cisterns have 
at times to be fixed to store enough for twenty-four hours’ 
use. When they are fixed above each other, they are 
connected to supply the hot and cold services separately, 
as is also the case when fixed alongside each other, each 
having its own supply valve. When a large cistern of 
any kind is fixed, great care should be exercised in select¬ 
ing the position of the outlets; and this applies also to 
slate cisterns fixed alongside and connected to each other. 
It will be obvious that unless great care is taken in select¬ 
ing the position of the outlets, the water in some portion 
of the cistern will remain for long periods without being 
drawn off, and in the case of two cisterns most of the 


76 Manual of Modern Plumbing . 

water in one cistern will remain for months, perhaps 
years, without being drawn off, thus becoming 
unfit for use. There is not at any time suffi¬ 
cient motion in the water when in store cisterns 
to keep it from becoming stagnant. For about nine 
months of the year the incoming water will sink straight 
to the bottom, and for the remaining three months it 
will lie on the top. This is owing to the difference in 
temperature between the standing water and that fresh 
from the street main. Although the difference in tem¬ 
perature is slight, it can be turned to account for mixing 
the whole of the water contained in a large cistern, but 
is more certain in the case of two cisterns connected 



B 

Fig. 


together, for it will be seen that the temperature in the 
cistern supplied from the main will be different from that 
in the other cistern, which is supplied through the con¬ 
necting-pipe between them. 

Nothing can be done when the supply is intermittent, 
as in London; but nearly all other places have a constant 
supply of good water night and day. Store cisterns are 
a necessary evil, and are, of course, only to provide a sup¬ 
ply during repairs to street mains. They cannot be ex¬ 
pected to supply water when the street mains are frozen, 
unless exceptionally situated and kept warm. The street 
mains require a much lower temperature to freeze them, 
on account of the pressure within them, than the water 
in store cisterns; so that if the street mains are frozen, 
it is probable that the main service, store cistern, and 
the outlets near them are also frozen. The store cistern, 










































77 


Storage of Flushing and Drinking Water. 

then, is really of no value, except at such times as the 
street mains are off for an hour or two. 

At Fig. 3 is shown the method of connecting two slate 
cisterns in such manner as to keep the water in both 
cisterns fresh by causing a circulation which is set up by 
the withdrawal and entrance of the water. In summer 
the standing water will be warmer than that drawn from 
the main, which will sink downward and cool the water 
at the bottom, according to the quantity drawn off. This 
body of water being denser than that contained in the 
other cistern, will flow through the pipe, A, to the cistern, 
B, and the water from the top of the cistern, B, will flow 
to cistern, C, through pipe, D. When a large body of 
water is drawn off, and there is much difference in the 



temperature of the standing and incoming water, the 
movement from one cistern to the other will be pretty 
brisk, and at any time there will be a continual mixing 
of the two bodies of water. The pipes, A and D, may 
be shorter and connected at the holes shown in the sides, 
or they may be fixed one on each side of the cistern. In ■ 
selecting the positions of the pipes, A and D, the points * 
to be taken into consideration are the size of the cistern 
(two sets of pipes may be needed) and the position of the 
inlets and outlets. The pipes, A and D, should not be 
less than i in. Fig. 4 shows two slate cisterns with lead 
safe and connections. The stop-cock is a size larger than 
the service pipe, which is provided with an air pipe, so as 
















































78 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


to allow the water to flow freely into and down the ser¬ 
vice pipe, and also to prevent check, for in most cases 
where these pipes are fixed the water, strange as it may 
appear, will flow round the bend back into the cistern, 
thus easing the pipe. Lead flanges are wiped on the ends 
of the air pipes to prevent them from dropping or being 
forced through cover into the water. The air pipe, A, 
shows the treatment for the expansion pipe. The cis¬ 
terns are shown connected in two ways. The one to be 
preferred is the connections in the bottoms to the one in 
the ends, as a slight settlement may cause a leakage, 
which would not with the bottom connection. Each cis¬ 
tern is supported on two bearers placed according to its 
size. It is not unusual to find slate cisterns laid on a plat¬ 
form or floor, but there is always a great risk of the 
bottom breaking, and leakages are more frequent when 
the cisterns are fixed in this way. 


t 


CHAPTER IX. 


ELEMENTARY SANITATION. 

Drainage is the most important subject, and should 
receive the greatest attention. It is not intended to rec¬ 
ommend the adoption of anything very extraordinary in 
the way of drainage for small property; the suggestions 
made here are only those, the carving out of which, with 
good workmanship, will make a thorough and efficient 



• Fig, 1. 


drain in all respects “sanitary.’' In the first place, the 
position in which it is intended to lay the proposed drain 
should be carefully chosen, consideration being given to 
the following points which, again, are simply those which 
it is necessary to take into account in order that no evil 
effects may result, should there happen to be any defect in 
the drain. The first point is that the drain should be 
‘taken outside the house as quickly as possible, if it should 
be a terrace house. In the event of the house being de¬ 
tached or semi-detached, there is no necessity for the 
drain to enter within the walls of a house. The second 
vital point is to keep it far away from the water pipe. 
It is a radical defect to lay them both in the same trench, 
% as is occasionally done; neither should the gas pipe be 







80 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

laid near the water pipe. The drain itself should be 
formed of well-glazed stoneware pipes, and the joints 
made with portland cement. The bed upon which it is 
laid should be firm and solid, otherwise the passage of 
heavy loads over the drain may cause a breakage, owing 
to the giving way of the bed. If the soil is of a fairly hard 
nature, well ramming may suffice; but should this not be 
the case, and the natural bed is of a soft, yielding charac¬ 
ter, an artificial one of concrete must be resorted to. In 
any case, should the drain go under a dwelling, it should 
be bedded in concrete—that is, surrounded with concrete 
on all sides—in order that it may have any pretense to 
good work. Any imperfections in the joints which may 
have been overlooked are not then of such consequence, 
as the pipes are encased in the concrete. The drain 



should have a regular fall from the highest end to its 
junction with the sewer, and the bed should be carefully 
formed into one continuous fall. A syphon ventilating 
trap, the full size of the drain, should be inserted before 
the drain enters the sewer, and at some convenient point 
in it where a pipe can be carried up from the ventilating 
arm in the trap against a wall. This arm should be on 
the opposite side of the trap from the sewer, and the pipe 
or fresh-air inlet should be of the full calibre of the soil 
pipe, which will form the ventilating shaft or outlet for 
the fouled air and gases at the upper end of the drain. 
The fresh-air inlet should be caried up a few feet above 
the ground, and be surmounted with a mica flap valve, 













Elementary Sanitation. 


81 


which is illustrated in section at Fig. i. It will be seen 
by an inspection of this that air can only enter; directly 
it tries to get out, the mica flap, which is hinged at the 
top, is closed against the grating in front, and remains 
closed until the back pressure is removed. In good work, 
with a view to future economy, and in order that the 
drain may not have to be broken into, it is well to have 
a manhole—not necessarily very large—in order that rods 
may be inserted in the drain for clearing any stoppage. 
This avoids the necessity of breaking the pipes—a great 
consideration, for it is very rarely that the drain is rein¬ 
stated properly after having been once broken into. This 
manhole may be built with hard, non-absorbent bricks 
laid in cement; the drain should be carried in a glazed 
channel, and the bottom of manhole formed sloping to it 
with cement. It would be well, if the manhole is built 
in ordinary bricks, for the sides to be rendered in port- 


ui 

a 

a 

a 

ui 

5 



Fig. 3, 


land cement for some distance up, so as to be prepared 
in case of stoppages. A stone cover with a ring may be 
placed over and grouted in with liquid cement. It will 
not often be necessary—or, let it be hoped so—to move 
the cover, and the sealing is easily cut away with a ham¬ 
mer and chisel when requisite. Should there be a bend 
or curve in the drain, that is the best position for man¬ 
hole, as command is then obtained over both sections of 
the drain (see A and B, fig. 2). 









82 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


The main drain should not be less than 6 in., neither 
is it advisable that it should be larger for an ordinary 
house, for, as with the flues, so long as it is large enough, 
the smaller the better, because it is the more easily 
flushed. Branch drains from gullies and sink wastes 
should be 4 in., and nothing smaller than this should be 
laid, as a drain of a less diameter would be very liable to 
be stopped. Efficiently-trapped gullies should be pro¬ 
vided to receive all rain-water pipes, bath, and sink 
wastes, and surface water. It is advisable that all the 
rain-water pipes and wastes should terminate above the 
gratings of the gullies, and discharge into fresh air, so as 
to minimize the chance of their being turned into me¬ 
diums for the transmission of foul air. But if this is 
objected to on the ground of splashing, the pipes may be 
continued into the gully, in which case it should have 
a back or side inlet for the reception of the pipe (see 
Fig. 3). The old-fashioned bell trap is by no means a 
perfected trap, the water seal is insignificant, and in 



flG. 4. 


dry weather soon evaporates, and the “trap” is one no 
longer. Then, again, foreign matter gets washed into 
the rim under the cup, and continually stops it, in which 
case the grating and bell are removed in order that the 
obstruction may be cleared away, and often, in order 
that further trouble may be avoided, the grating is not 
replaced, and the drain is thus left open. In the case of 
sinks, the grating is often soldered down, but in this case 
there is great difficulty in clearing the trap should it get 
stopped. A much better way is to fix a lead “S” or “P” 
trap under the sink with a screw, cap, which can be re¬ 
moved for cleaning out if necessary. 

A typical drain is shown in section, Fig. 5. A is the 
syphon with the fresh air inlet, B, carried up against 




Elementary San it at ion . 


83 


the side wall of the house, C is the manhole with chan¬ 
nel, D is the 4 in. soil pipe at upper end of drain, which 
should be carried up full size above the roof of house, 
and may or may not be capped with a cowl or foul-air 
extractor. The use of this latter is doubtful; the foul 
air and gases in the drain are sure to rise to the highest 
point. It is a subject for speculation whether matters 
wouldn’t get on just as well without the extractor. In 
the event of one not being used it is necessary that a 
wire cage should be fixed on the top to prevent foreign 
matters from falling down the ventilating shaft. 

The foul gases in the drain being warm rise to the 
highest point, and finally make their exit aj: the top of 
the ventilating shaft, D. Fresh air is drawn in at the 
inlet at B, and a natural inductive ventilation is kept up. 
It will be noticed that the soil pipe is untrapped, and 
this is necessary, as can readily be seen, in order that 
this natural ventilation may exist. Through want of 
knowledge of this simple principle a trap is often put 



at the foot of the soil pipe, thus rendering ventilation 
impossible, and consequently the drain is always full of 
foul gases ready to be forced through traps at the slight¬ 
est back pressure, instead of making their exit before 
they become dangerous at a point high enough to mini¬ 
mize any risk of harm from them. The use of the mica 
valve at the fresh air inlet, B, may now be seen. Should 
any down draught make its presence evident, and create 
a back pressure in the drain, and so drive the foul gases 






























84 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


towards the lower end of drain, the mica flap, which is 
extremely light and sensitive, is immediately closed, and 
prevents any exit at that end, which would be most un¬ 
desirable. The drain, and all the traps, syphons, etc., 
should be carefully bedded, and the soil rammed well 
round them to prevent any movement which would be 
very liable to start the joints. 

It is upon the practical work of the plumber, however, 
that to a considerable degree the sanitary condition or 
healthiness of a house depends. He is responsible for 
the water supply and all that portion of the drainage 
which is inside the house. It would, perhaps, be well 
to give the water supply first consideration. Next to air, 
water is the greatest necessary of life—animal and vege¬ 
table, especially the former. This being the case, surely 
it is to the advantage of the community—for whose ben¬ 
efit, presumably, all our laws are made—that the water 
supply of the metropolis should be unlimited and unfet¬ 
tered with any absurd regulation made by the water 
companies solely for their own protection. It is quite 
right that some provision should be made to prevent a 
waste of water, but there is a line somewhere between 
“waste’’ and “use”; and a regulation to prevent waste 
should not be so framed as to interfere with the free use 
of the water. Many of the best and most sanitary w.c. 
apparatus are rendered inefficient, owing to the fact that 
the water companies’ regulations will not allow a pipe of 
sufficiently large caliber to permit of a perfect flush. 

Should there be a continuous supply of water in the 
district, it is well to arrange the water supply so that all 
water likely to be used for drinking or cooking purposes 
should be drawn direct from the main. There are hun¬ 
dreds of people (thousands, perhaps, would be nearer the 
mark) who go on drinking water year after year out of 
a cistern without ever cleaning it out. Perhaps they 
don't think it necessary, or are too lazy, if they have to 
do it themselves. However it is, the fact remains, and 
the tank becomes an aquarium filled with specimens of 
animal and vegetable life, possibly beautiful in them¬ 
selves, and of great interest to the naturalist, but cer- 


Elementary Sanitation. 


85 


tainly undesirable in a cistern from which water is drawn 
for human consumption. 

It is a much healthier arrangement where the water 
for drinking purposes is drawn direct off the rising main, 
so that it runs no risk of contamination by passing 
through the house cistern. This latter should be of gal¬ 
vanized iron, or, if of wood, it should be zinc-lined. Lead 
should not be used, as it exerts a poisonous influence 
upon water if it remains long in contact with it. 


CHAPTER X. 


SOIL PIPES, CLOSETS, AND TRAPS. 

In order that the cistern may be thoroughly effective, 
it should be fixed in the roof, in order to supply bath 
and upstairs w.c., and a trapdoor should be provided for 
access to it, in order that it may be cleaned out when nec¬ 
essary. Indoor w.cs. are objectionable under any cir¬ 
cumstances, but it is, perhaps, convenient that one should 
be provided. If it can be so arranged, it is better that, 
while opening off the floor at which it is fixed from 
the inside of the house, the w.c. should be as much as 
possible an outside one—that is, outside the walls of the 
main building. The pipes are not then brought within 
the house, and there is less risk of danger. 

Soil pipes should always be of lead, not iron. Where 
iron pipe is used for economy as soil pipe, it is really un¬ 
fit for the purpose to which it is put. Ordinary cast- 
iron pipe is full of minute air-holes, and the corrosive 
action of the fluids and gases within a soil pipe tends to 
increase the size of these holes, and thus the gases readily 
escape. There are some who put forward in favor of 
iron soil pipes the fact that lead pipe is very easily in¬ 
jured, and that the soil pipe, when placed outside, as rec¬ 
ommended, is very much exposed, and liable to be dam¬ 
aged. This is quite true, and where it is in an exposed 
situation, and liable to knocks and blows, it should be 
protected. There is no objection to putting an iron pipe 
outside the lead one; or a place could be built for it in 
the wall, so that it could have some protection. 

From the top of the soil pipe a pipe of the same diame¬ 
ter should be carried up above the roof, in such a posi¬ 
tion that no impediment may exist to the free exit of the 
gases from drain. This latter pipe, being simply a ven- 


Soil Pipes, Closets, and Traps. 87 

tilating pipe, may be of a lighter weight than the soil 
pipe, but should be of the full size—a small zinc tube, 
about i l /2 in. or 2 in. in diameter, such as is often seen, 
is of little use, and totally inefficient for the perfect ven¬ 



tilation of the drain. Care should be taken that the outlet 
of this ventilating pipe is not so fixed as to permit the 
foul air finding its way down adjacent chimneys or 
through the upper windows of the house. Before dis¬ 
missing the subject of ventilation there is one little item 





















88 Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

which calls for attention, small in itself but of great im¬ 
portance. When two or three w.cs. are placed over one 
another there is great danger of the lower ones being un- 
trapped by the flushing of those above them. 

The water coming down so suddenly acts as a piston 
in the soil pipe, and drives the air before it, thus causing 
a partial vacuum, and by the pressure of the. external air 
acting on the outer surface of the water in the lower 
traps, a little water is forced through each time during 
the period of “low pressure’' in the soil pipe, and should 
the upper closet be used several times without a corre¬ 
sponding use of those below it there is danger of the 



traps in the lower closets becoming completely untrapped 
by syphonage, and thus leaving the drain open. The 
remedy for this is the provision of a means of ventilat¬ 
ing the traps, so that air may be drawn in to maintain 
the equilibrium within the soil pipe without being drawn 
through the trap. By reference to Fig. i, which is a 
vertical section through three closets built one above the 
other, the case may be understood. 

The soil pipe, S, receives the three closets, A, B, and 
C. In the ordinary course, with unventilated traps, the 
use of the closet, B, would tend to unseal the trap of A, 







Soil Pipes, Closets, and Traps. 


89 


while the use of C would have the same effect on both A 
and B. In order that the effect may be counteracted, a 
small ventilating pipe, V, should be carried up from the 
-trap, at A, at a point above the roof, and a connection 
made with the trap at B. When any of the closets are 
used, the tendency to untrap the one below would then 
be prevented, and the air readily drawn through the pipe, 
V, instead of attempting to force a way through the trap 
itself. It will, perhaps, have been noted that no connec¬ 
tion with the small ventilating pipe is made to the trap 
at C, as this is unnecessary, there being no closet above. 

With reference to an outdoor w.c., an apparatus of the 
“artisan” or “wash-out” description is much preferable 
to the wretched “hopper” closet, which is a filthy dis¬ 
grace on civilization. It is always in a beastly condition, 
even if frequently cleansed; and when, as is often the 
case, it is never purified, it becomes a source of great 
nuisance and danger. And the extra cost of a good 
closet is but a few shillings, while the improvement, both 
in appearance and effect, is infinitely great—a common 
hopper closet always has the appearance of cheapness. 

With regard to the bath, there is little to be said ex¬ 
cept that the waste pipe, as also those of lavatories and 
sinks, should not communicate directly with drain, but 
discharge in the open air over trapped gullies. 

A separate cistern should always be provided for flush¬ 
ing w.cs., as water is very liable to contamination when 
the supply pipe for w.c. is taken direct from the cistern 
to the apparatus, especially if the old-fashioned arrange¬ 
ment of wires and levers is employed, which leaves the 
pipe standing empty, to be charged with foul gases ready 
to combine with the water directly the handle is pulled. 

The old-fashioned, and it is to be hoped obsolete, “pan” 
closet cannot be too strongly condemned, especially for 
use inside a house. The iron container is simply an ac¬ 
cumulator of filth, which, always being kept in a damp 
state, decomposes and emits foul and dangerous gases, 
which are released into the house every time the handle 
is raised. 

Should the waste pipe from bath or sink be of any con- 


90 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


siderable length, a trap should be fixed below the bath or 
sink, as dirty or soapy water will leave a coating in the 
pipes which emits an unpleasant odor, and this will be 
carried into the room if the pipe is untrapped. If, how¬ 
ever, the pipe is but a few feet long, it is unnecessary to 
trap it, although, of course, it would be a safeguard to 
do so. Lead or zinc “safes” should be fixed under all 
baths and w.c. apparatus, as a precaution in case of over¬ 
flows. A waste pipe, of course, must be carried from 
these traps or “safes,” but as an overflow is not likely to 
be of frequent occurrence, it is well that these wastes 
should not be connected in any way with the drain. It 
may be carried just through the outer wall, and there ter¬ 
minate with brass flaps at their ends to prevent any back 
draught. These wastes should always have a fall from 
the bath or sink, and this fall should be continuous. 

The foregoing remarks apply—only in a greater de¬ 
gree—to the overflow from the cistern, which should 
simply be carried through the wall and discharge into the 
open air. Standing wastes are objectionable, as they are 
invariably connected with the soil pipe, and although they 
may be trapped, an overflow is not usually of very fre¬ 
quent occurrence, and the water in the traps evaporates, 
or is syphoned out, and poisonous gases pass up, and are 
readily absorbed by the water. 

In fitting a bath it is sometimes the practice, though 
mostly bathrooms are provided with separate basins and 
waste, to fit an appliance to the bath so that a wash-hand 
basin may be conveniently used. The following is a con¬ 
venient and ready way of fixing such an appliance: Along 
the back of the bath, a, a rod, b , is fixed, along which a 
rectangular frame, c, carrying a basin, d, slides. When 
not in use the basin is removed and the frame, c, which 
may be jointed at the middle, folded back against the 
wall. The basin may be filled either by pushing it under 
the tap or by a flexible pipe. It may be discharged either 
by tipping or by a plughole, as usual. 

For a moment we may, on account of its importance, 
hark back to the vital necessity of properly cleansing the 
cistern at regular and frequent intervals. On this point 


Soil Pipes, Closets, and Traps. 


91 


our medical contemporary. The Lancet, has given a warn¬ 
ing. It is of the utmost importance to have the reserve 
stock of water used for cooking and drinking purposes, 
especially the latter, under the constant and watchful eye 
of an interested person. Most cisterns or tanks are placed 
in attics, many of them in positions almost inaccessible; 
others are so arranged that foreign substances can easily 
fall into them, and offering no bar to the entrance of 
vermin of all sorts. One tank was found covered with 
a carpet that had been worn out on the floor of a living- 
room. Having served its purpose as a floor covering, it 
was thrown over this tank, and with every movement the 
dust and whatever germs might have lodged there sifted 
through into the water. Many others were found with 
loose board covers, which were used as shelves or places 
where various articles were laid for convenience’ sake. 
There is neither sense nor reason in tanks arranged in 
this way. They are a menace to health and a reflection 
on the good judgment of those who build and use them. 
Tanks should be so fixed that all pipes are soldered in, 
and a cover fitted so closely as to be practically airtight. 
Tanks that stand open in attics or upper rooms are fruit¬ 
ful sources of disease, and ought to be superseded by 
something more sanitary and cleanly. 


CHAPTER XI. 


LEAD LINING FOR SINK. 

Until within the last few years most of the sinks for 
domestic use as well as those used for business purposes, 
were lined with lead. The drainers were also of lead, 
except in good class houses, when the drainer, and some¬ 
times the sink in the pantry, would be of block tin. The 
lining of sink depends upon the size, small ones being 
cut out in one piece, while the larger ones are put in in 
three pieces, the sides and bottom in one piece, and the 
ends in separate pieces, the angle soldering in this case 
being the two upright corners, and across the bottom at 
each end, and in the former the four corners only. It is 
a very simple matter to line a sink out of its place, as 
it can be stood up on end while the angles are soldered. 
The lead should be set out accurately by allowing the two 
thicknesses of lead off the width and length, and at each 
corner, when lined in one piece, a Ft in* or Y in. strip 
should be left on, to turn behind the front portion, as 
shown in Fig. i. When the sink is lined in three pieces 
the turned in portion will be left on the piece for the 
sides and bottom, as in Fig. 2, which shows the lead 
ready for setting up and putting in position, as in the 
previous figure. The turned in portion should be shaved 
down to a feather edge, so that it will not keep the front 
lead from being dressed tight to the end or forming a 
ridge down it. The point of the shavehook may be 
drawn down the angle so that the turn in will fold easily. 
It is laid down by some so that, to make a good job, both 
the side and the end must be returned; but this is a bad 
job, or, at all events, a worse job than returning none at 
all. When both sides are returned, as in Fig. 3, they 
require more nailing to keep them from rising when sol- 


93 


Lead Lining for Sink. 

tiering”, and if they do rise they cannot be got back so 
readily; besides, the soldering must be much wider to get 
depth to cover the edge and nails. The seam will be 
more clumsy, and instead of it being stronger, as it is 
claimed it will be, it will be weaker, taking the solder 
bulk for bulk. The wider the seam, the more waste of 
solder, as it will be on the sides instead of over the join¬ 
ing ; not only this, but one side of the seam must be 
weaker than the other, as the lead is returned past the 
angle, the joining therefore coming on the side or end 
instead of being in the angle. There is nothing to be 
gained bv returning both edges ; one edge is cpiite enough, 



as it is only done to prevent the solder from running be¬ 
neath the lead, and not to make the seam stronger. 

The strongest seam with the least amount of solder can 
only be made when the joining is in the angle, as shown 
in Fig. 4, the shaving line being at equal distances on 
each side of the edge of the lead. When nails are used 
they should be copper, and driven in obliquely to the lead 
and each other, so that they will not draw. Angle solder¬ 
ing, when properly done, is the strongest for its work of 
all soldering; and when it gives way, it is probably done 










































94 Manual of Modern Plumbing. 

as in Fig. 3, where there is a weak and a strong side in 
comparison. 

Angle soldering usually cracks at the edges or a short 
distance on, but rarely in the center, unless the soldering 
is very weak, and the two thicknesses of lead folded in 
the angle must weaken, not strengthen, the seam. When 
the lead has been set out, tarnished, shaved, greased, and 
set up at the edges, the bottom should be bulged up and 



/—. ■ 





« 

i 

• 

1 


* 


the sides outward, so that it will drop into position with¬ 
out damaging the edges. The sides are first straightened 
up, and they should be held down firmly while the bottom 
is straightened, so that the lead will be forced into the 
angles. The same applies to the ends. The solder is 
usually splashed on with a spitter from one end of the 
seam to the other, but the heat is only got up for, say, 
half the length of the seam. There is no tool like the 
plumbing iron for wiping, and the plumber will use one. 
When there is a good supply of metal splashed on half 
the seam, there will be enough to go round, for most of 
the spare stuff is pushed before and kept in a molten state 


























95 


Lead Lining for Sink. 

by continually rubbing the iron through it. The iron is 
first applied to the whole of one end in the case of sinks 
and small cisterns, and rubbed backwards and forwards, 
thus forming in a rough way the seam itself. The lead 
will now have risen up, and the plumber will keep push¬ 
ing it back along the seam, thus causing it to rise up in 
the center, as it has been fastened at the edges by the 
solder splashed on the seam. When the lead is pushed 
down the cloth is drawn along the angle and past the cor¬ 
ner, the first time being to push down the lead; and, to 
gauge the amount of solder required for the seam, blow- 



Fig. 3. - FiC. 4. , 

holes are filled and the cloth drawn along again, thus fin¬ 
ishing the seam. The solder is now gathered together, 
warmed up, and another length wiped, and so on, two or 
three irons being used, according to the length of the 
seam. Sometimes the mate will splash on a ladle of sol¬ 
der when the plumber takes up the iron. 

Fresh metal should be taken from the pot with the 
second and third irons, as the iron brings up the tin which 
is used, leaving the solder poorer towards the end of the 
seam. This applies to the lining and soldering of sinks 
and small cisterns out of their place. When wiping a 
sink in position it is usual to wipe the two front angles by 
drawing or wiping up from near the bottom to the top, 
the remainder being wiped down and along the bottom 
half way. Beginning at the other angle, wipe it either up 
















96 


Manual of Modern Plumbing. 


to the top or from top to bottom, according to its position, 
and along to the center, which will have been chalked, or 
a piece of pasted brown paper placed on it by the mate. 
The chalk prevents the face of the solder from melting 
so readily, so that the molten solder can be brought well 
up to it and over it, the seam being finished off by draw¬ 
ing the cloth quickly and firmly over it. When brown 
paper is used the seam is not finished so neatly, as the 
solder will, of course, stand the thickness of the paper 
above the first portion soldered. When the bottom of a 
sink is stronger than the sides the lead will be cut to 
cover one side and end, thus doing away with the solder¬ 
ing of two upright angles, and this method is more often 
adopted than any other, even when the lead is of the same 
strength throughout as the thin pieces required, one for 
the bottom and two pieces for the sides and ends, are 
more nearly of a size than by any other method. When 
the piece for the side and end is too large—but this only 
happens in the largest of store cisterns—the bottom sides 
and ends are put in separately and all the angles wiped. 

We must now draw to a conclusion our observations 
on the craft of the plumber, having given practical in¬ 
structions so far as a book could for many sections of his 
work. To include the whole field of his requirements, or 
even to touch lightly on the later developments and im¬ 
provements in his trade, would be a task involving much 
additional work and entail the increase of the book by 
many pages. Some details, therefore, must be omitted, 
and this will account for the absence of many manufac¬ 
turers’ plumbing specialties which we should have liked 
to introduce. The mention of them would, however, be 
invidious unless we could include all, or nearly all, the in¬ 
ventions and discoveries relating to plumbing of modern 
date. The course has been taken of not mentioning any 
by name so as to avoid the suspicion of favoritism. A 
general and, we hope, a tolerably complete sketch of the 
principal departments of work coming within the province 
of the plumber has been given. In a field so extensive 
many items have only been casually touched upon, and 
some of minor or, so to speak, local interest, omitted al- 


Lead Lining for Sink. 


97 


together. The minute details of a trade which many 
people take half a lifetime to acquire, and then only do it 
imperfectly, we have not attempted to enter into, but even 
with all its “blushing imperfections” upon its head we 
hope that many readers in the trade will be able to find 
matters to interest and to instruct them in the important 
and progressive trade of the plumber. 


THE END. 





r 


OCT 6 tm 


I 





























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































